Naruto of the Force
by The True One-Winged Angel
Summary: Naruto is saved by an unlikely savior and taken to become a Jedi on Coruscant. There, he will learn the ways of the Force, the Jedi and so on. How will the future of the Jedi change with Naruto? Will he follow the path of Light or Darkness?
1. How it All Began

**Naruto of the Force (Soon to be called: The Long Road: Part 1)**

**By The True One-Winged Angel**

* * *

**AN: **Alright, my Naruto/Star Wars fic remake. I have done more research on both sides of the crossed over stories and believe I can effectively achieve the personalities that the characters should have. Hope it's better than my previous story. Check it out.

**Chapter one: How it all began**

* * *

Some journeys aren't meant to be told.

Not every path intended to be explored.

And some roads should never be taken.

My story begins on the outer regions of the known universe, if you can believe it, on a planet whose name I couldn't pronounce at the time, nor do I remember at the moment what it was called. It has been a long time.

Because you have read past the first five sentences, I have hopefully gained your attention and interest. So I shall continue.

For now, I will start from the beginning. The start of how I came to be where I am today. To start, I was a Jedi. (If you do not understand what a Jedi is, don't worry, I will get into that soon.)

Before I was a Jedi, I was a Padawan. (If you do not understand what a Padawan is, same conditions apply as with a Jedi. I would ask you to hold your questions for now, and all will be explained soon.)

And before that, an Initiate.

And even before all that, I was what everyone was once upon a time. I was a child. A boy; naïve, clumsy and arrogant to how all things were. I was clueless to the vastness of what was out in the universe. To me, there was myself and the village and life began when I was born. Everything else was just confusing and uninteresting to me.

I was just your typical child.

At least, I thought I was.

I will tell you how it all began, to the best of my knowledge. This is the start of my story. Know it is not one filled with the joys and prosperities that life brings. There will be hardships that I will face along with my comrades and friends. There will be choices that I have had to make that I regret later on making. But I digress. For now, relax, sit down, and listen. For this is the story of the child known as Naruto Uzumaki…

* * *

Our story starts in probably the most unusual planet in the known galaxy. At the moment, a man, bearded but by no means showing any sign of age, looked upon a strange vessel in the middle of an otherwise human-less forest.

The man was a peculiar sight to behold. Aside from vessel that stood silently in front of him, his attire was unique. Aside from his loose-fitting pants and darker-shaded robes that he wore around his torso, he also wore long, brown cloak around his person. The cloak not only covered his arms and shrouded his head in shadow, but also reached down to his similarly colored boots, grazing the grass he stood upon.

Now, this still might not have seemed that strange to some. To someone watching the man, he might have simply been a monk or well-dressed priest who had come upon a strange object in the middle of the forest. Nothing more.

However, upon closer inspection of the man, or more specifically, under his cloak, things got a bit stranger. His belt that wrapped around his waist consisted of numerous pockets, filled with all sorts of devices and pieces of technology that was, by no means, known by the planet.

And, if things weren't unusual enough, from that same belt, a long, cylindrical device hung loosely from it. The device was obviously constructed with precision, a practiced hand and technology foreign from the known region.

The cloaked man looked upon the strange, metal ship that rooted itself firmly to the ground, as a small, blue figure appeared on the ground before it, looking upon he man as if this were nothing unusual.

The cloaked man looked down to the blue form and spoke with a voice that held recognizable experience and wisdom with it, "Master Qui-Gon to communication center. Checking in to report."

The blue figure before him spoke up in response, "_Communications center reads you loud and clear, Master Qui-Gon. How do you read Master Qui-Gon?"_

"I have found no evidence that suggests that this planet has any affiliation with the Black Suns. It would seem to have simply been a rumor, as Master Koon suspected. Permission to return to back, over?" The cloaked man, Master Qui-Gon, reported back.

_"__Understood. You are relieved then, Master Qui-Gon."_

"Understood. I will check out the nearest town for supplies and will report back to the Temple as soon as possible. Qui-Gon Jinn, out." The middle-aged man finished, as the small, blue figure dispersed in front of him, leaving the man alone in the clearing with his ship.

Qui-Gon then turned to the small protrusion that's head turned slightly towards the Jedi Master, a small 'whirr' coming from it. "R2," Qui-Gon spoke to it, "I need you to keep the ship warm until I come back. I don't like this place, and would very much like to leave quickly should complications occur." The Jedi Master then turned and quickly walked away from the craft and out of the clearing in the forest, his robes flowing behind with the wind.

* * *

Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master and commander of the vast power of the Force, was sent to this planet on a rumor of a possible affiliation with the illegal Black Sun crime syndicate by the Jedi Council, the Council being something of a group of leaders and elders towards those who were able to control the Force themselves.

The Jedi Council and Order, as they called themselves, were a peacekeeping organization, unified by its belief and observance of the Force. The Force, as it was known as, was an energy field that surrounded all life, together. And through its use, the Jedi were able to use it in ways that surpassed comprehension by any sentient being in the known galaxy.

Through its infinite potential and capability, the Jedi trained in its uses to help and protect those in need. From the powerful to the helpless, the Jedi were the guardians of peace in the universe, and went on to help those who needed it in any way, shape or form, selflessly, as they had done for thousands of years.

Which is where we find this particular Jedi Master today. Despite the planet having little too no knowledge of life outside of their own world, and it being kept that way by several governments throughout the galaxy, the possible threat that it had been compromised by a possible illegal organization could not be allowed. The Jedi had been sent to investigate and confirm or deny these suspicions themselves by their government.

The planet was a backwater one, at best. With histories full of violence and children bred and built for combat, some could only consider what could occur should the planet learn of intergalactic transportation. Most governments considered the violence that came with the legendary mercenary organization known as the "Mandalorians."

The central government of the unified planets of the galaxy, known as the Galactic Republic, or simply the Republic, could not even begin to account for how many lives were taken by their kind throughout the history of their creation. Needless to say, no one wanted a second occurrence like that.

And if that were not enough, the planet held no significant resource that could not be found elsewhere at a much more profitable level.

Thus, the Republic of the galaxy kept little to no knowledge of the planet known to the galaxy, to preserve that planet to the best of their capabilities.

It was only during serious conditions that anyone was given clearance and the orbital codes for the planet. Serious conditions, such as the one Jedi Master was forced to look into, currently.

* * *

Coming upon the nearby town, Qui-Gon found himself slightly perplexed by the sight before him.

A gate several stories high, with a matching wall at its sides, stood proudly before him. As far as the Jedi could tell, its walls spread all around the vastly populated village. It was slightly startling. He'd seen fortresses in his time as a Jedi, even had to break into a couple of them, himself, when the situation called upon it, but to see a planet with such primitive technology create such a defensive structure throughout an entire living community was slightly startling.

Qui-Gon smiled to himself, as he knew he'd be one of the few beings in the galaxy to see such a sight such as the one before him. With that thought in mind, he made his way to the front of the gates, where two guards stood silently in front of him.

"State your business," the first guard spoke up.

"I come seeking supplies for my journey back home. May I enter?" Qui-Gon asked, turning his hooded face to the second guard, who looked slightly startled to be looked at. He hadn't stopped examining the Jedi's choice of clothing since he arrived.

"Can I see some papers or license of identification?" the first guard asked, as he gave a look to his partner, who looked slightly embarrassed for a second before straightening up.

Qui-Gon frowned slightly. This may prove slightly problematic, "I am afraid I have no papers on my person. But believe me, I mean neither you, nor your home, any harm." One of the first lessons a Jedi learned in his/her youth was that, if one needs to get through an obstacle, alternative methods, aside from ones Force capabilities, can be used or required.

Sadly, this would prove to be one of those times where working towards one's favor would not work, "Rules are rules, I am afraid. No papers, no entry." The man's face was stern and chin held high. Who wouldn't relent.

Qui-Gon frowned as he looked between both guards. He considered his options carefully. On one hand, the man was only doing his job. No wrong in that. However, this village was the nearest one to his ship, and he did not feel like trekking all the way back empty-handed to search for another town or village with less security.

And thus, he came to one solid conclusion. The Jedi slowly raised his hand, his eyes focused on the guard, and spoke softly, "You do not require my papers today." His voice was smooth and convincing, and his eyes never left the other guard's.

For a moment, the guard felt a strong inclination to disagree with the man once more. But then he paused and considered it, "I do not require your papers today."

Qui-Gon continued, "I mean you no harm. Please let me pass."

The guard nodded, "You mean me no harm," he turned to his fellow guard, "Let him pass."

The second guard was simply confused as he looked between the two, but slowly nodded and stepped aside for the middle-aged man.

Qui-Gon stepped by him, smiling. "Thank you."

"Thank you." The guard responded back one last time, before shaking his head roughly and turning his back towards the entrance of the village once more. His fellow guardsman, confused and slightly unnerved by the experience, followed suit shortly after.

* * *

Qui-Gon walked aimlessly through the village, unsure of where exactly he would find the supplies he needed for the trip back, but not unnerved really. He had time, and it was not essential for him to find supplies that day in the first place. The trip back to the Temple would only take little less than a day's lightspeed trip.

Despite this, he saw no need in starving himself for the trip back. So long as he kept his head low and stayed out of the spotlight, he would be fine.

As he walked through the streets of the village, he found himself growing steadily hungrier as he searched for anything that looked remotely like a marketplace.

It was a difficult search, as he had trouble finding any sign of information that would point him in the right direction towards stalls that sold food or supplies and not vases, antiquities and such. Jedi had no use for them anyway.

That was when he paused for a moment and looked around at a nearby stall that stood out among the others around him. Even though it was the middle of the day, with the sun out and people walking the streets without a care in the world, it seemed to the Jedi to have a slight glow to it in comparison to the others.

Now, Qui-Gon assumed that it might have just have been his hunger kicking in, and the sudden sight and smells coming from the food stand made him feel a small sense of wanting towards the food stand.

Thus, he walked quietly into the small stand and took a seat, pulling the hood of his cloak off his head as a middle age man, perhaps just older then himself, came out to greet him.

"Hello and welcome to Ichiraku Ramen," _Ichiraku Ramen? _The Jedi Master wondered to himself. It was an interesting name, he supposed, though he couldn't imagine what it meant, "What can I get you?"

Qui-Gon opened his mouth, but what he was about to say was cut off by a loud yell beside him in the seat next to him, "A miso ramen with extra pork, please!"

Qui-Gon paused; slightly startled by the yell, he turned to his side to see where the sound came from. Sitting there beside him, legs' rocking back and forth on the stool, with a bright, white smile, was a young boy.

Qui-Gon looked at the boy. He was small, perhaps five years of age, and wore a slightly over-sized white shirt and long black shorts. That wasn't the unusual bit about him, really. Along with the bright smile, the boy had unusually bright blonde hair and equally bright blue eyes, which seemed to glisten as he looked at the food of the stand. Alongside his cheeks, however, three long scars were scratched upon each side.

The scars made the boy stand out. They were simple, yet so perfectly aligned with the other side that Qui-Gon wondered for a moment if the scars were even real.

The boy was unaware of the man beside him, staring down at him, as the man behind the food stand looked over to the boy and sighed, "Naruto, do you not see we have someone _else_ here?" The man scolded slightly, as the boy blinked unsurely for a second before turning to the Jedi Master beside him.

For a moment, their eyes met, just for a moment, but the master could have sworn he sensed surprise from the boy. Surprise, however, he wasn't of what.

The moment passed quickly, however, and the boy turned back to the man behind the counter, "So can I?" He asked again, as the cook shook his head wearily and turned back to the Jedi Master.

"I'm sorry for that," he apologized, "so what can I get you today?"

"Oh oh! Get the miso! The miso is the best!" The boy interjected, as he looked up to Qui-Gon with expected eyes. Qui-Gon couldn't help but chuckle slightly from the boy's excitement, as the cook sighed once more.

"I think I'll take the miso then and some tea, if it wouldn't be too much trouble," Qui-Gon requested to the cook, as he turned to the stove behind him and began working on the two meals.

The boy attempted to stifle his excitement as he watched the man work on their meals. Although he didn't notice it, the Jedi Master beside him smiled ever so slightly, as he watched the boy out of the corner of his eye.

Eventually their meals were handed to them individually, as Qui-Gon looked down at the unusual noodles and herbs mixed up together in front of him. It smelled good, but past experiences had proven that things were not always as they seemed.

The boy, however, practically swallowed the entire bowl in one go, a bright and enjoyable smile never leaving his face.

The Jedi smiled, "Quite the appetite,"

The boy paused for a moment, a mouthful of noodles still hanging from his mouth, as he turned to the man with great, round eyes. With one last slurp and a gulp to match, the noodles of the bowl were gone, as he continued to look up at the man, "What was that?" He asked, having not heard him over the sound of his own slurping.

"I said 'quite the appetite' you have there," he repeated, as he took a cautious taste of the food in front him, as the child merely looked confused for a moment before smiling brightly.

"Yeah! Ichiraku's is the best!" He brought the bowl to his mouth and, as Qui-Gon expected, drank the rest of the contents without a moment's hesitation. The boy then held up the bowl back up to the cook, "More please." The cook chuckled slightly and filled it once more.

The two customers to the lonely food stand ate silently for a small amount of time, before Naruto looked up to the Jedi and, with an innocent look, said, "You're not from around here, are you?" It would only be later in both of their lives that they would feel a sense of déjà vu from those words.

Qui-Gon looked down at the boy, "What makes you think that?"

"You don't look at me like the others do." The boy replied, no hint of emotion coming from him. To Qui-Gon, the boy was simply stating a fact.

Qui-Gon's face scrunched up in confusion, "Like how?" He asked.

"Like…" The boy's eyes narrowed as he stared at the far wall of the stand, his mouth frowning, as well.

Qui-Gon just looked at the boy for a moment, before looking over to the cook. Although his back was turned, Qui-Gon could feel the unease coming from him. "Why do they look like that?" The Jedi asked, trying to phrase the words so the boy could understand what he was asking him.

The boy's face cleared, replaced by another questioning look, as he stared at the ground in thought. Crossing his arms, he shook his head. "Nothing I can think of." Before any more could be said, the cook placed a cup of milk in front of the boy, who looked at it in surprise. His features lightened up after that, as he picked the cup up, yelling, "Thank you!" Before drinking it quickly.

Qui-Gon looked over at the man, who smiled at the boy, but it held no real happiness. It was just a smile to cheer the boy up, as far as Qui-Gon could tell. "So where are you from?" The boy asked after finishing the milk, as Qui-Gon thought for a moment before smiling.

"Just north of here," he responded back.

"Oh," The boy replied, apparently fine with the answer, "What's with the funny clothes?"

Qui-Gon pursed his lips in thought, "They keep me warm when it's cold, dry when it rains, and they are comfortable to walk around in." Explaining the complexity of the clothes and their exact meaning behind each bit would be, one, forbidden by the Council and, two, too difficult to explain to the child. Thus, simple words and explanations would do, as the boy seemed slightly upset by the obvious answer behind clothing, but nonetheless nodded.

"What's your name?" Qui-Gon hadn't expected to be asked such a question while on his mission to the planet, and thus, was unsure if he should tell the boy or not.

He considered it for a moment. Necessarily, it wouldn't be going completely against the rules and limitations the Jedi placed on him. And he considered that the boy was just a child, after all. He'd probably forget it soon enough.

So he smiled, "You know, it is polite to give your name first before asking someone else's."

The child looked down at the ground in confusion for a moment, his mouth silently wording out what the Master Jedi said, before nodding and looking back up again with a smile, "My name's Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki!"

Qui-Gon just smiled. It wasn't the strangest name he'd ever heard. Reaching out his hand in a shake, he replied in return, "My name is Qui-Gon Jinn. Pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki."

The boy, Naruto, grabbed his outstretched hand and shook it up and down excitedly, a smile on his face as he did so. Qui-Gon could only guess what was going on in the boy's head that would make this handshake mean so much to the boy.

Off to the side, the cook just smiled at them both.

* * *

The meal went on slowly, as Naruto asked question after question to the Jedi Master, who was careful to answer them honestly, but not too much that it gave anything away he wasn't supposed to.

After four bowls of ramen from Naruto's end and a single one from his own, Qui-Gon exited the stand after paying with the money he was given from the Council for missions outside of the Republic's jurisdiction, and began to walk once more in a general direction, hoping to get some indication of where the marketplace may be.

_Perhaps I should have asked the cook._ He thought to himself. He had been so caught up in the child's numerous questions about what was outside the village that he hadn't thought to ask.

Now, he was walking, aimlessly, towards what he hoped was the marketplace direction.

"Where are you going?"

The Jedi's head rose, as he stopped walking and turned to his right. The boy, Naruto, walked beside him, hands behind his head, as he looked up to the cloaked master questionably.

Qui-Gon was slightly surprised. He hadn't even noticed the boy leave the food stand with him. "To the market." He replied simply, walking once more.

"Why?" The boy asked again, as he casually walked beside him down the road.

"I need supplies for the journey home," Qui-Gon answered politely, his eyes scanning anything that looked similar to a store or food market. His eyes became curious; however, as he noticed notable looks of hostility and anger coming his way as he passed.

"You're leaving already?" Naruto complained aloud, continuing to keep pace with the Jedi.

"I'm afraid so."

"How come?" The boy did love his questions, Qui-Gon noted.

"I promised my friends I would. By tomorrow, at the latest." No sign yet of a supply shop.

"Oh," Qui-Gon heard solemnly, as he continued to walk forward. He had thought that the boy would have left him be, after hearing he had to leave soon, but the boy kept pace as usual. Naruto even began humming a small tune as they passed by some houses.

Sighing lightly, Qui-Gon stopped on the road and took a knee so he could look Naruto in the eye, "Shouldn't you be getting home soon? I am sure your parents would be getting worried by now," Qui-Gon hesitated as he spoke, still noticing looks of loathing coming from all around them. Recalling what the boy said earlier, he almost felt obligated to make sure he was safe till he got back to his parents.

But Naruto only shook his head, "Don't have any."

Qui-Gon looked at him questioningly, "You don't have any parents?" Naruto nodded, "So you're an orphan?" He nodded once more, "Then where do you live?"

Any child might have hesitated after hearing that kind of question, had parents given them proper teachings on 'not talking to strangers,' but Naruto was ignorant of those rules, and pointed off into the distance, "I live over there in a small home building."

"You live in an apartment?" Qui-Gon asked, understanding what the boy meant by his choice of words.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, the old man gave it to me," Naruto said proudly, as Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow.

"The old man?" This might have sounded unusual to anyone who heard this, and might have been alarming to a certain degree if one considered 'who' this old man could be. However, Qui-Gon sensed no ill intention on the boy, and thus, thought little of the boy's choice of words.

Naruto just nodded. "Yeah, the Hokage. He pays for stuff for me." Qui-Gon had heard about the Kages with his weeks on the planet. By their definition and his understanding, they were the leaders of the military in each nation, each holding a significant amount of power and influence with them.

For this boy to be raised by someone as important as a Kage, he must have been important in some way, he assumed. As Qui-Gon looked around, however, he wondered why a military leader would look after a boy who was looked at with such animosity all around him.

Frowning to himself, he turned to look back at the boy, "Would you like me to take you home?" The boy shook his head.

"Too early. I want to stay and have fun with you." He smiled excitedly, and Qui-Gon frowned.

"Alright then," He turned back towards the direction he was walking to, but before he could take a step forward, he felt a pull at the hem of his cloak.

"Qui-Gon, sir?" This was the first time the boy had used his name, as Qui-Gon turned and looked down to him, a slight sigh managing to escape him. He was running out of time.

"Yes, Naruto?" He asked, as Naruto pointed back towards the direction they came from.

"The store's that way." He said, as Qui-Gon followed his fingers direction for a moment, and then looked back down to the boy. He couldn't help but let a small laugh escape him as he ruffled the boy's long blond hair.

"Thank you very much, Naruto," The boy snickered at the ruffling of his hair, as he once more followed the Jedi Master down the road, ignoring the looks sent his way, and asking questions from what was Qui-Gon's home like, to why the sky was blue.

Naruto Uzumaki, the Jedi concluded, was a somewhat strange, but interesting, child.

* * *

Things remained at a slow pace for the Jedi Knight. Naruto led the way, asking questions and talking about his own life as they walked. Qui-Gon kept quiet as he talked but gave the appropriate answers and responses when needed.

Sure enough, they eventually arrived. Qui-Gon moved inside, telling Naruto to wait for him, as he quickly made to grab what he believed he would need for the trip back. It wasn't much, to be sure, but enough that it would make the trip back comfortable.

It took him less than five minutes to get what he thought was necessary, and he made his way out quickly. He didn't see Naruto immediately, but found him a short ways off at a shop filled with masks of all sorts or sizes and designs. He seemed interested in them.

Qui-Gon watched him for a moment, before turning to walk off quietly. He knew it would be slightly rude, but he expected all would be fine. The boy would soon forget about him, he was sure, and he would be nothing but a vague memory in the boy's mind.

So, passing slowly by the mask shop, he left the boy alone to return to his ship and return back to the Temple.

However, fate intervened once more, and changed everything.

"You bastard." Qui-Gon paused on the road, turning around to look back to where the sound came from.

He noticed Naruto's surprised expression, just as he was roughly shoved out of the shop. "Get outta here!" Qui-Gon heard the same, angered voice again, as the young boy was effortlessly shoved out of the shop and onto the dirt ground outside.

Qui-Gon didn't hesitate. The Jedi's life often worked through their instincts and belief in the will of the Force. There was simply to do or to not. And thus, he did what was instinctive to him. He rushed to the boy's side and helped him up from the ground. "Naruto, are you alright?" He asked, as Naruto nodded, scratching the back of his head in slight pain.

Qui-Gon looked back up to the shop owner, obviously the one to throw the five-year old so roughly, "What is the meaning of this?" His voice was not one of questioning, but of demanding for an answer.

Naruto didn't seem to be able to let it go either, as he yelled, angrily, "What was that for?!"

The man just looked down at them both, a small crowd gathering around them. None of them seemed particularly upset by the shop owner's actions. "Why did you come here, you pest?!"

Qui-Gon made to speak, however, Naruto, despite his youth, spoke up defiantly, "Why did I come here? I was just looking at that mask…" The people around them began to talk between one another, their eyes an unsettling coldness, as the shop owner grabbed the white mask with red markings on it that Naruto had previously been staring at.

"This one, huh?!" He yelled, and tossed it at the two. Had Qui-Gon not caught it mid-flight, it would have surely hit Naruto's head. Glancing at the mask for a moment, Qui-Gon sent the man a hard look. "I'll give it to you, now get lost!" The owner walked away after that, returning into the shop, leaving the Jedi Master and the boy on the ground, in silence.

For a moment, everything was quiet. Slowly, with one last look at the mask shop, Qui-Gon stood up, helping Naruto to his feet. "Come Naruto," Naruto just stood there, his eyes on the ground. Slowly, he pulled away and reached out for the mask from Qui-Gon's hand.

Naruto's head bobbed upward, looking at the people who surrounded him. Their faces were now showing signs of panic, which only made Naruto's eyes narrow more, "What…" his tiny fist clenched on the mask, as he suddenly glared at the crowd, "What the hell is it?!"

Qui-Gon stared at the boy, his face solemn and emotionless, like he was trained to be at times like these. He did not know what to think of the situation. He'd seen people generally hated in his life, true, but never towards a child who, for as far as he could see, was as innocent as any other, despite his yell of rage.

He watched Naruto, as his features softened, looking quite solemn now as the crowd continued to look down at him, "Why are you looking at me like that…?" Then, he ran, away from the shop, away from the crowd, and away from Qui-Gon.

The Jedi's expression turned to surprise, as he reached out to stop the boy, who just narrowly escaped his reach, "Naruto!" He yelled out, but the boy kept running. Noone made to stop him, they just stared at him.

Qui-Gon made a move to chase after the boy, but stopped, as he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly, only to see an old man in long, flowing white robes and a large, matching hat. His arm was outstretched and held on tightly to Qui-Gon's shoulder, preventing his movement. Behind him stood two men in dark cloaks and distinctive masks covering their faces.

Qui-Gon sensed no danger from either of them, but had the instinct to keep wary of them all, despite this. He had not noticed either of them in the crowds, so he knew that these were not ordinary men.

The Jedi relaxed himself, standing still as the two black-cloaked men scattered in random directions, leaving the two men alone in the street.

The two men stared at one another, no hint of emotion on either of their faces, before the elderly man in white robes said in a low, gravelled voice, "Let us grab some tea."

Qui-Gon made no movement at first, but merely nodded and followed the old man as he made his way past the still remaining crowd that spread quickly aside for them, not in fear, as Qui-Gon sensed, but respect.

Qui-Gon, although it was merely an educated guess, suspected who the man was, and so, continued to follow.

* * *

"So, if I might ask, what is your business here is in this village?" The old man asked, as Qui-Gon took a sip of tea and stared at the man for a moment. The two had walked to a large, red building towards the edge of a mountain that happened to make up the edge of the village.

The two entered quietly, walked up a few flight of stairs, and came to a private room. The two waited in silence as a women brought them some tea. Now, in the quiet silence of the room, they looked between one another.

"I believe," Qui-Gon began, "that it is not only respectful but polite to introduce one's name before asking personal questions." He had meant it to come off kind and not disrespectful, and hoped the elderly man understood.

Evidently, he did, as he nodded, "Forgive me," he said, "I am so used to people knowing who I am I sometimes forget that even some may still not know who I am." He pulled off his hat and placed it beside him, revealing short-cropped grey hair and a similarly colored beard. His features were old and wrinkled, but just by looking at him told Qui-Gon that he was quite possibly older and even wiser then his own, former master. "I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage."

Qui-Gon remained emotionless. He had suspected as much, but was not one to simply assume something without proper evidence.

So he nodded. His name wouldn't be too much to give away, "My name is Qui-Gon Jinn."

The Hokage nodded, "Yes, I was told as much. If you do not mind me saying, since your involvement, I have had my own personal assistants keeping an eye on you both." Qui-Gon nodded, unsurprised. He hadn't admitted it during the walk with Naruto, but he thought he sensed someone watching them both from a distance. However, he sensed weariness, not danger, from their watchers so did not act upon it. He was a guest to the village, after all. He did not come to cause trouble.

"Now," the Hokage continued, "that we have introductions out-of-the-way, may I ask what your intentions are in this village?"

It was a simple enough question, "I am here to gather some supplies for my journey back to my home." Qui-Gon gestured to the supplies he had carefully packaged beside him.

The Hokage nodded. Simple questions were asked to ease whatever tension was between them both. It was a simple interrogation trick, despite this not being an interrogation. "I heard how you met Naruto," he began, again, "He has taken quite the shining to you. I don't believe I have ever seen him open to anyone like he has to you," Qui-Gon tried to understand where this was going, but couldn't. So the boy had opened up to him. Was that some big accomplishment?

Qui-Gon's face didn't show it, but he suddenly came to a surprising conclusion that, just maybe, it was an accomplishment. But why, he could not guess, "Lord Hokage," Qui-Gon began, "why have I been brought here?" That part still eluded him.

The Hokage took another sip of tea, "Naruto is a unique child, as I am sure you have noticed." Qui-Gon was sure he didn't mean because of his personality, "Aside from myself, I can only think of one or two others that do not give Naruto the looks the rest of this village give him." Qui-Gon's eyebrow rose slightly in slight surprise and question about why this information was significant. The Hokage sighed, as he placed his cup of tea back on the table in between them. "You seem like a reasonable man. I am just trying to understand why you took an interest into Naruto." It was straightforward and blunt, and from the look on the Hokage's face, it was something that bothered him.

Qui-Gon could not understand why, as he held onto a calm, relaxed expression, "I did not take an interest in Naruto," from his experiences of only just a few years before, how could he? "To be honest, he took an interest in me."

"But why?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "I don't know. I'll be honest; I have tried to leave him behind for some time. At the food shop and at the store – no matter what I did, he would follow me." He'd walked through several cities and environments in his time as a Jedi. Quite often enough, he was similar to a ghost, walking around, unnoticed and uninteresting to the general population. The same had occurred here in this village.

He was supposed to go unnoticed on this planet. Preserve the order of the unknown to this planet. He'd done so, correctly, for the last month or so.

Until Naruto came along.

The Hokage leaned forward, "But you tried to help him at the mask shop. You could have told him to go away on your way to the store. You had plenty of opportunities to leave him behind, but you didn't." He was well-informed, Qui-Gon thought to himself, as the Kage sat back in his seat, his eyes on Qui-Gon's, unwavering and serious, "So I must ask you, what is your intention with Naruto Uzumaki?"

Qui-Gon didn't even need a moment to think about it, "Nothing," He said, "I have no intentions with the boy. As I said, I am here for supplies. Not the boy," As he said this, however, he began to consider other options. He considered his age, he considered the possibilities and he considered the boy himself.

He considered something he knew he shouldn't have. He wondered how Naruto would be as-

He physically shook his head. He was too old. He made the mistake before of taking a child away from his planet before; above the age that was allowed.

He'd done it once before, and reminded himself what had happened as a result. He couldn't risk it again.

The Hokage stared at the man; trying to read him, understand who was sitting in front of him. The clothes were unique, and suggested he was, perhaps, religious in some way. However, his features showed physique and knowledge, and his belt suggested he was more than just a monk. No monk walked around with a utility belt.

When a Hokage did not know or understand who was in front of him, this was both an enigma and a dangerous thing. He should have been wary, but he also understood that this 'Qui-Gon Jinn' meant no harm to him, Naruto or the village, as far as he could tell.

But, he'd been wrong before.

"If I may ask, Lord Hokage," Qui-Gon spoke, "what is the reason behind the looks at Naruto?"

The Hokage stared at him for a moment, "I am afraid I cannot answer that." Qui-Gon nodded. "May I ask which land you come from, Master Jinn?"

This time, it was Qui-Gon's turn to answer in the negative, "I cannot say."

Again, silence was in the room. Then, Qui-Gon stood, and bowed slightly, and reached for his bag, "If you do not mind, Lord Hokage, I must ask if I may leave now. I have a long journey ahead of myself and have wasted enough time." It was not meant to come off harsh, but he saw no reason to stay.

The Hokage, who had no further reason to keep him there, let out a small breath and nodded, "You are free to leave." Qui-Gon stood, bowed slightly before the man, and made his way out of the building.

They both knew, one way or another, their conversation was far from over.

* * *

Qui-Gon walked silently and at a mild pace down the road, passing civilians without a sign of acknowledgement. The sun had already begun too set to the side of him.

But all that seemed to be ignored and without a passing thought to the Jedi Master. The conversation with the older man had left him troubled and conflicted now. His thoughts dwelled on what he had seen, what he now knew and what he could do about it.

The latter of the thoughts remained an ever vigilant and painful parasite. They lingered and egged him on to do what he knew he should. But he left them as just that: thoughts.

He would not make that mistake. Not again. And just to be sure he did not hesitate with his resolve to do just that, he sped up his walking and pressed on down the quiet and empty road.

That is, until he came upon a playground surrounded by an iron fence, and heard a voice he knew all too well from the day.

"So I got this really cool mask from a shop today! Check it out!" Qui-Gon paused, casually looking through the fence to see the blond boy surrounded by an assortment of children.

Naruto put the mask to his face, its fox design for all to see, and made a roar from it, "Rarr! I am the Nine-Tailed Fox! Rarr!" The kids laughed at the blonde's performance, as he peered behind the mask to laugh, as well.

Qui-Gon smiled as he watched. Yet another reason why he could not take the boy with him. He had people here who knew him, even if they weren't always with him. No planet was completely unmerciful and evil. Even without the Jedi, there was good in the galaxy. Sometimes it could be just a little hard to find.

Qui-Gon stood there, silently, watching them laugh and talk, before turning slightly to walk away, "Kids! It's time to go home!" Qui-Gon heard a woman call out, as he turned to see the children run to their respective parent or parents, happily embracing them individually before turning to leave the playground.

From his spot behind the fence, Qui-Gon watched as Naruto continued to smile as the parents walked away with their children. Then, Qui-Gon heard something that made his eyes perk.

"I thought I told you not to go near that boy," the woman, who had called for the children before, scolded quietly to the boy she held hands with, who looked up questionably to her.

"Why?" The boy asked, as his mother's features turned slightly angry.

"Just, do mommy a favor and stay away from him, okay dear?" She asked him, as the boy looked unsure for a moment but then nodded.

"Okay mommy." The mother smiled, no hint of anger on her features anymore, as she gave the boy a kiss on the forehead and continued walking with the other parents away from the playground.

Qui-Gon turned back to the playground. The boy continued to stand where he had previously. He was no longer smiling. He had heard her too.

Qui-Gon stood silently where he was, watching the boy. The hate of the old was being passed to the young.

The Jedi's hand pressed to the fence, as he watched the boy walk sadly to the swings, sit down, and rock back and forth slowly, unaware still of the Jedi's presence.

Qui-Gon just watched the boy. No thoughts came to mind now. He was conflicted. Very conflicted. His grip on the iron fence tightened as he watched the boy. No tears, no sign of remorse, just a blank look.

Qui-Gon felt a hand on his shoulder. He'd already known who it was, though. He'd felt the presences for well over a minute as he watched the boy. Even with a conflicted mind, a Jedi Master did not gain that title through mere tricks and meditation.

"I know what you're thinking," The Hokage said, as he stood beside the Jedi, watching the boy alongside him, a man with an odd looking mask standing silently behind them both.

"What could that boy have possibly done to deserve treatment like this?" He asked, but knew he would not gain the answer he sought.

The Hokage just shook his head, "I'm afraid it has been like this since he was born." That much was as true as it could have been.

The Jedi frowned, "No child, no matter whom, should have to receive this sort of treatment." His voice rose. The situation was starting to get to him.

"I agree," the Hokage replied, "But there is little that I can do in this situation. I have done what I can, but I am limited in how far I may help him. Everyone in the village is." Qui-Gon could only speculate what he was saying. It almost sounded like the child was of some importance.

"And yet they treat him like…" The Hokage remained silent, both older men simply watching the boy rock himself on the swings of the playground. The boy had yet to notice either of them. "This must stop."

"What would you have me do?" Qui-Gon didn't respond at first. How could he? Anyone who knew his background would have suggested he just walk away and leave the boy alone. The Hokage was in a similar situation. Having little power to help the boy, turning to the man beside him for advice was, while risky, also a naïve move.

Similarly, the Hokage could not give the man much freedom to do whatever he wished to do to help the boy, within the confines of the law of Konoha. There was protocol, procedure and a level of control that any situation, both in and outside of the village, must be handled with. Same goes for even a ninja village, and especially for a boy of Naruto Uzumaki's level of importance.

"What would I be able to do?" Qui-Gon countered.

"Well," the Hokage began, "you would be limited. Very limited. To the point, I might say, that any assistance given or activity around the boy, of any suspicious sort, would be dealt with extreme hostility." The Hokage sounded like he read this off of a book, "You would be labeled a threat to the village and be handled accordingly, along with any accomplices you might have in the vicinity." At this point, anyone might have felt nervous over these words. Qui-Gon sensed no hostility from the man, nor his masked guard behind him, however, and so he let it be. It was his village. He had the right to speak how he wanted to.

There was a moment of silence. The Hokage took a deep breath, let it out, and shrugged, "Unless…"

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki rocked silently on the swings, unsure of what to do. It was saddening, but just sitting down and allowing time to pass was easier than walking home, lying down in a corner and crying over the unfairness of the world.

Crying only works when there's someone there to quiet you down and tell you things will be alright.

It was no surprise to anyone when it took the boy a moment to look up and notice the bearded man in front of him, smiling sadly down at him.

The child's face brightened, "Hey Mr. Qui-Gon!"

"Naruto," Qui-Gon replied back, as Naruto began to swing back and forth on the Swings again, this time with much more vigor with the new company around him.

Qui-Gon slowly moved to the swing beside him and, despite being too big for the seat, managed to sit in it comfortably for a while, watching the boy excitedly swing back and forth, back and forth.

The whole time, a troubling, powerful thought on his mind. _Am I doing the right thing?_

"Naruto?" Qui-Gon began, "May I ask you something?"

"Uh-huh!" Naruto yelled, never stopping his swing.

Qui-Gon took a deep breath and looked out to where the sun was setting. This was hard. Very hard, "Are you happy, Naruto?"

The boy looked shocked for a moment, stopping his momentum on the swing, before smiling again, "Yeah! I am!" Didn't take a genius to see the truth.

"I see." The Jedi didn't stop there, however. "Naruto," he started, as he watched the boy continue to swing back and forth with a seemingly joyful attitude, "I could, that is to say, if I could take you somewhere, far away from here, where no one would hurt you, laugh at you, or persecute you again, would you like to see that place?" It was blunt, but the boy kept swinging nonetheless.

"What do you mean?" He was curious, and he understood some of the words the man said, but he was just a child. Bigger words eluded him.

"If I brought you to my home, I would ensure you a better life. A safer life." The child understood that. Qui-Gon could tell, and he had his attention, "If you would like, I could take you there, but only if you so wish it. I would not be upset if you wished to stay here." He hoped Naruto would want to stay here.

Naruto's next question surprised him, "Would I be allowed to come back?" It wasn't the usual question a child asked.

Qui-Gon answered him honestly, "No."

The boy's pace on the swing slowed a little, "What about the old man?"

"He has given his blessing on this journey, but you have to make the decision on whether you want to go down this road," This is why Jedi took infants and not children. Explaining things was difficult to the developing mind.

Perhaps more perceptive then Qui-Gon initially believed, Naruto stopped swinging and looked up to him with lost eyes, "Can I say goodbye?"

This was another hard part, "No," Qui-Gon replied, "I was made aware that, if you wanted to go down this path, you would have to leave immediately. We don't have much time as it is." The old man had made that a point to make before he agreed to this plan, "No personal effects, no goodbyes; I am afraid we must leave immediately if we are to make it to our destination safely." And without interference, he neglected to mention.

The boy stared silently at Qui-Gon. He wasn't talking or looking at him with the same energy he had before. There was a new look in his eyes the Qui-Gon was familiar with in his time as a Jedi Knight, "Will you save me?"

The Jedi knelt before him on the swings, placed his arms on his shoulders and offered the most determined look he could muster, "Yes."

* * *

The two were running. Running in the day was hard, but it was as if no one was around. Naruto, at a slower pace, attempted to keep up with the older man, as Qui-Gon quietly applauded the boy's stamina. He could run, that much was obvious.

They ran through the gates without any sign of a guard or life to be seen. They ran through the paths outside of the village for a time, before Qui-Gon gestured for them to jump into the forest and right into the path of the metal vessel from earlier.

Naruto was speechless as he stared at the vessel, "Whoa."

"Indeed," the Jedi responded, hoisting the boy and his supplies onto the vessel as the engines began to roar, the cockpit opened up and a little green head on the side of the ship beeped at the two of them.

It was needless to say, Naruto had not been expecting this as Qui-Gon tucked him into the back of the ship, made sure he was strapped in and then promptly dove into the front seat, "R2, take us off."

The green head at the side of the vessel responded, as Naruto looked all around them at what was occurring. Suddenly, the vessel shook, and the ground drifted further and further from them, until even the trees were below them.

Naruto had his fingers to the glass of the cockpit, wide-eyed and practically speechless, he managed a loud, "Whoa!" before the ship blasted off towards the clouds above, leaving the planet far behind.

And not a moment too soon, as a group for black-clothed men jumped into the area, bent on bringing the boy back to the village.

The Hokage, from a safe spot in his office, smiled as a messenger was sent ahead of the hunter squad to report the child was missing.

_Well done, Mr. Jinn. Well done._

Everything had worked as planned.

* * *

"WHOA!" Naruto yelled once more, as the trees and the cities and the oceans slowly faded away from clear visibility, only to eventually be seen in deep space, where the young boy was able to see the planet in its entirety.

And the stars, oh, the stars were everywhere. Everywhere he looked, bright, gleaming balls of gas, light years away.

Or, in the case of the Jedi, who was driving the spacecraft along at a moderate speed, a small lightspeed jump away from them.

"This is awesome, Mr. Qui-Gon!" Naruto was almost jumping with excitement, the sheer marvel of it all was mind boggling to him.

The Jedi smiled back to the blond boy, "Indeed," he murmured, as he gazed up at the never-ending space of the universe. So many. So, so many.

The boy slowly began to quiet down, still smiling, but the run and excitement was getting to him. With any luck, he would pass out before long so the Jedi Master could get to Coruscant without further delay or explanation of current matters.

Qui-Gon was perturbed by his thoughts at the moment. Three times, he tried to leave the boy. Three times, he failed, and wound up taking him, despite his determination not to.

As a Jedi, he knew he should have helped him. As a man with a distinctive past as his own…

This was a difficult decision to make. And now, he could not turn back from it.

"Wow," Naruto replied quietly once more, before slowly and comfortably dozing off to sleep, allowing the ships engines to slowly coo him to sleep.

The Jedi relaxed as he felt the boy slumber, before slowly punching in a set of coördinates, allowing the engines to make a slight 'vroom' sound, before calmly allowing the hyperdrive to take them to their desired location.

With any luck, he'd figure out how to explain this to the council before he even landed.

* * *

Qui-Gon awoke sometime later to the quiet beeps of the R2 unit attached to the ship, as he was notified that Coruscant was coming into position.

Slowly easing out of the hyperdrive, Qui-Gon smiled as he nudged Naruto awake to the familiar sight.

"Huh?" Naruto mumbled, still tired from the excitement of a few hours ago, as he slowly rubbed his eyes and took in his surroundings.

Then he gazed outward and was dumbstruck.

The Jedi smiled contently, "Naruto Uzumaki. Welcome to Coruscant." Naruto might very well have not even heard him, as he looked out of the cockpit and into the _vastness._

Ships. Millions of ships. An entirely new planet, almost purple in color, with rings of light all around. It didn't seem possible, couldn't be possible. Naruto wondered if he were in a dream. Yes, a dream. The store owner knocked him out, he was dreaming, he'd awaken soon enough, he-

"Naruto, Naruto! Calm down!" The Jedi yelled, as Naruto in turn took a deep breath of air he hadn't realized his lungs had lacked, "It's just the culture shock. Don't worry, it goes away."

"But-but-but-but-but-!" Where could Naruto begin? There was no word to describe the immensment of this moment.

He, Naruto Uzumaki, was the first person on his planet to see the world of Coruscant, or any other world, for that matter.

And he could not even comprehend it.

"We'll be touching down at the temple soon enough," the Jedi master said at the front, "relax your mind until then. There is much more on the surface."

Naruto looked at the front of the cockpit, "…More?" It didn't seem possible.

* * *

But it had been. Possible, that is.

Thousands of skyscrapers, countless speeders and ships, billions on billions of people thousands of feet below them-

Qui-Gon gave the boy the last of his supplies to chew on as they made their way through the world, if only to calm the boy down a little.

But the temple – oh, the temple! – the Jedi Temple was the most spectacular thing the young boy had seen yet! It stood tall, proud, amazing! He almost compared it to the Hokage Monuments back on his own planet (even thinking that was amazing to himself) but even those _dimmed_ in comparison to the five towers of the temple.

The raw power and feel of them was immense. Even for a boy, he knew this place had vast importance.

The Jedi master quietly docked the craft into the side of the temple. He was nervous and rightfully so, but kept his proud expression on and motioned for Naruto to follow him once they were safely docked.

He walked slowly, allowing Naruto to take in his (hopefully) new home.

The boy was amazed by the size of it all. He marveled at the other Jedi that passed by, asking Qui-Gon if they were like him. When he confirmed it, Naruto made off to talk with a few of them, until Qui-Gon beckoned him to continue following him through the building.

Between the detours were the youth got distracted by the power of the temple, the fear he felt towards some of the aliens he'd never imagined actually seeing in his life, and trying to get as much information out of Qui-Gon as possible, they eventually made it to an elevator leading to the top floor of the center tower (naturally, Naruto was both amazed and frightened when the floor rumbled upwards from below him).

Eventually, the elevator came to a stop, and they found themselves in a hallway with a large door to the side of them and a window looking out at the city, "Naruto," Qui-Gon said sternly, gaining the boy's attention from everything around them, "I need you to wait here. I must meet with the council first," the boy did not quite understand what was going on, but nodded anyway and took a seat infront of the window, gazing outwardly in absolute marvel as the city raced by him.

Qui-Gon, sure he would not move from that spot, went through the doors without further ado.

Time passed for the boy, but he hardly noticed. He was content with his window of the outside, watching life pass him by and just imagining what was out there.

He wanted to see it all. And who could blame him?

An hour passed after Qui-Gon entered the room beyond the large door, with Qui-Gon slowly entering the hallway to see Naruto still gazing longingly out to the city.

At least he listened to me, Qui-Gon thought to himself, "Naruto," the boy jumped in surprise of the master's voice, as Qui-Gon gestured towards himself, "Come with me. The council will," he took a deep breath to calm himself, "see you now." Naruto silently followed Qui-Gon into the room.

Naruto looked at the members in the room, which consisted of humans and aliens and looked between them. Naruto had experienced a few aliens on his way to the Council, but a few of them, such as a bug looking one, spooked the boy into averting his gaze downward. He would have been more interested in looking out of the wall to wall windows around the council room, but with the aliens, this proved somewhat difficult.

"Hehe, familiar, this scene is," a voice in the room croaked, as Naruto managed to look up from his spot in front of Qui-Gon and into the eyes of what looked to be a green imp. If the situation wasn't so serious, Naruto might have laughed at him, "Not the first, you bring someone to us, it is." The imp replied, gazing at Qui-Gon, who placed his hands on the boy's shoulders to help calm his fears.

Qui-Gon didn't seem pleased with the imp's words, but stood tall behind the boy, nonetheless, "This is Naruto Uzumaki," his voice was strong and loud for all of them to hear, as Naruto's head rose slightly from its gaze on the ground, "Naruto, this is the Jedi council."

Naruto was practically trembling, "H-hi." He managed, with no clear response given to him from the council. He almost felt out-of-place. In fact, he was.

New world, new place-hard not to be.

"Questionable, I'm sure you are," the imp croaked. "New place, this is. How do you feel?"

Naruto looked between the men and women in the room. "A little scared." Terrified would have been more honest, if he had known the word.

"To be expected, it is. New world, you are on. But your feelings…hmm…" The green one stopped speaking as if pondering something. The Jedi masters stared at the boy, unsure of what to make of him. Naruto, in turn, was unsure of what to make of them.

They were the leaders; Qui-Gon had told him, they were the ones who trained the people who came here. He had nothing to fear, he knew, but feared nonetheless.

"You're scared." Came the voice of a bald, dark-skinned human man said firmly. Naruto looked at the man, finding it easier than the imp, that much was certain. The man stared into his eyes, "Don't be."

Easier said then done.

"Master Windu, Master Yoda," Qui-Gon spoke up, "This is Naruto's first time among others aside from humans. He will learn to adjust." Naruto wasn't so sure, but nodded anyway.

"True," The dark man – Master Windu – agreed, relaxing himself to the back of his seat, his eyes never leaving the boy. He would admit, the boy was innocent, if the things Qui-Gon told them were even half-true, this boy should have been an emotional wreck.

"It is something truly wonderful to see, the innocence of youth," came the voice of a yellow headed, black-masked alien, who spooked the young man on his way in. Naruto gazed up at him. Despite his appearance, his voice was normal, at least.

"True, Master Koon, but his age proves…troubling." The green imp – Yoda – claimed, as Naruto finally managed to get his gaze off the ground at the green creäture in front of him.

"The boy may be too old, but his life was difficult. It may push him to do the greater good." Qui-Gon claimed, as Naruto, not really understanding what he said but feeling it was something nice, smiled brightly at the man behind him.

"I agree. It may prove useful. He has seen firsthand what the systems worse have to offer. However, this may also make him do things…differently, than what we would allow. I am neutral with both sides." A man with a rather large cranium proclaimed, as he watched the boy with interest.

"Thank you, Master Mundi." Master Windu looked over Naruto with a pondering gaze. He could feel the boy's fear being drowned by his new sense of curiosity and acceptance to the foreign aliens around him. It was a good sign, to say the least.

"I am not for this, as he is, in fact, to old. We cannot simply make an exception because of one sad story," A woman, with an odd hairstyle and tanned skin, spoke up, catching Naruto's attention, "Yes, he is strong. We can all feel that," strong? Naruto didn't understand what she meant by that, "But I fear that the boy may be something we cannot fully train to be a Jedi. I worry for his safety, more than our own," Naruto looked at her, unsure of what she meant, and she looked back at him like he had done something wrong. He turned his gaze back to the other masters. She wasn't upset with him, but he felt like he had done something he shouldn't have, despite this.

"Master Gallia, in Naruto's defense, he was on a planet we don't often times go to and is very weak with potential force users. Surely that must mean something," Qui-Gon, once more, came to the boy's defense, as Naruto nodded enthusiastically, despite having no idea what he just said. It sounded good, at least.

"Hmm, strange to find a boy of such potential, on a planet that is practically dead to the force, it is. Very strange, hmm. But to a vote, I say, we put him in. For training or not." Yoda announced, as he looked to his left to Master Windu.

"Agreed," he muttered, as he looked up at Qui-Gon and Naruto in the middle of the room, "would you both step outside until we are finished with our discussion?" Qui-Gon nodded, patting the boy on the shoulder to follow him and promptly left the room to the masters.

Naruto sat beside master Qui-Gon, as the master quietly tried to gather his thoughts on what might happen next. Of what he would have to do next, should the situation arise.

He couldn't send him back. That much was certain. He couldn't leave him alone. He promised he wouldn't.

This situation was becoming very, very stressful.

Time passed slowly, with Naruto humming a toon in his head and gazing out the nearby window, until, after half-an-hour of waiting, Master Windu stepped outwards, "We are ready for you."

Qui-Gon stood first, walking towards the chambers as Naruto kept closely to him.

Yjere was a pause in the room, as Naruto looked everyone over, and they him. It was ultimately Qui-Gon in his impatience that spoke up for them all, "So will he be trained?"

There was a short pause before Master Windu chose to speak up then, "Yes, he shall," Naruto was not nearly unintelligent enough to know that this was a good thing. He began to smile brightly, until Master Windu spoke up once more, "However, we feel the boy is under-educated, as of now, on the current goings of the Clans at this moment." The rest of the council nodded, as Qui-Gon gazed questionably at them.

"Then what is to be done?"

"We believe a one-year remedial course, if you would, would suffice to bring Naruto up to par on all his studies and training."

"We believe we have found a suitable master that, for the meantime, has agreed to take Naruto on as his apprentice," Master Koon replied, as Qui-Gon gazed questionably at them all.

"And who will take this task, if I might ask?" Naruto didn't understand what was going on, but wasn't Qui-Gon supposed to train him?

"Hmm, decided, we have not. More on this matter, we will discuss," Yoda replied, as I felt Qui-Gon nod behind me, but couldn't help but feel that something important had just occurred, "For now, escort young Uzumaki to room 542. There, pick him up for training, your master will."

Things seemed to be moving along too fast for the young Uzumaki, as Qui-Gon bowed to the masters in the chamber before quickly escorting the young man out, having to give him a slight nudge to bring him back from his thoughts.

"So," Master Mundi spoke up, "which master shall we choose for the boy?" Master Yoda stoked his chin.

"Master Windu, how about you?" Master Koon asked, as Master Windu shook his head in response.

"I am occupied with my teachings of Echuu Shen-Jon at the present time," he responded quietly, returning the questioning look back to the Kel Dor master, "Would you be able to, Master Koon?"

"I am training Lissarkh in the ways of the Force," the bug-resembling alien remarked, as the council continued to ponder who to sire young Naruto off to.

That is, until with a light chuckle, Master Yoda smiled to them all, "How about Master-"

* * *

"WOW!" Naruto yelled, as he jumped on the bed in the corner of his room. It was small, but Naruto loved it.

"Glad you like it, Naruto," Qui-Gon replied, watching the boy from the doorway. The room was small, but the boy loved it, nonetheless. Younglings were given little until they progressed upwards in rank, but the boy didn't seem to mind.

As the two of them headed for his new room, Naruto questioned why the master would not train him, himself. Qui-Gon had explained he could not. When asked why, Qui-Gon stated he was not fit to train him at the moment and left it at that.

"Naruto, wait here until your master comes," Qui-Gon ordered, as Naruto settled into his cot without complaint, "I'll send a droid in to bring you some breakfast." Naruto didn't seem to hear him, enjoying the feel of the bed as he breathed in the _fresh_ sheets. Life was looking up for him. He didn't seem to recognize that, with Qui-Gon gone now, he would not be seeing the master for some time.

Naruto sat up from his bed and looked out of the huge bedroom window. Numerous vehicles and buildings loomed in front of it, but he could clearly see the sunrise as it came over the buildings. Naruto smiled at it.

A new world.

A new chance to start anew.

This was a new beginning –

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Naruto looked over to his door, as it opened to show a silver metal…human? Much have been a droid, like the head on the ship. Qui-Gon mentioned them once, "Hello. My name is J-29U. What would you care for breakfast?" The droid asked in a female like robotic voice, as Naruto continued to look at it in surprise, before catching what it had asked.

"Oh, uh, milk and cereal, please." Naruto asked, at ease with the droids looks after having experienced aliens first had, and allowed the droid to stand there for a moment, as if contemplating things.

"Affirmative," the droid replied, as it waddled out of the room without a second glance, returning soon after with the boy's breakfast. Naruto smiled. Life was _really_ looking up for him.

The breakfast was, in his opinion, the best he ever had, despite it being a common breakfast on the planet. Currently, Naruto was lying on his bed, gazing at the ceiling, still tired from his trip and weary from everything that had happened to him up to this point.

Aliens, worlds, droids, Jedis, green imps – he was having a full day.

But, the peace wouldn't last, as a knock on the door awoke his senses, "Coming!" Naruto yelled, as he ran and opened the door to reveal an old man.

Older than Qui-Gon, to be sure, but perhaps not as old as the Hokage back on his home planet.

The individual held a mask of dignity and pride in his features, with a straight, graying beard and matching hair, wearing the same style of robes as the rest of the Jedi, except seemingly being made of a leathery material of sort. He seemed dignified of sort, and Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of the Hokage back on his home planet.

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" The man asked before Naruto could reply, with a tone of command and obedience to it. Naruto immediately nodded, somewhat unnerved by the elderly man. "Hmm," the man looked Naruto over, "Qui-Gon spoke highly of you. I expect you to live up to that praise." He commanded, as he turned around and began to walk away.

Knowing not what to do, Naruto followed him out of his room.

"I will make sure you have, at least, the most _basic_ knowledge of the Jedi and their ways. I expect you to be an obedient student and listen and pay attention to all I say. By the end of our time together, I will make you a proper, well-adjusted Jedi, as well as a young man. Is that understood?" Naruto nodded, although he didn't know what obedient meant, "Good." The man stated simply, and continued to walk along, Naruto trying to keep up with him.

* * *

"This, Naruto, is called a Lightsaber, used by the Jedi as an instrument of peace. It can virtually cut through anything and, if used correctly, a Jedi can be extremely formidable, even against armies. But I want you to remember, that this weapon is your life," The man instructed, having only moments before guided Naruto into an empty room and brought out a straight-metallic handle-like instrument from his side and, with a click of a button, a long narrow blade of blue shot out of it with a, strangely, fitting SNAP-HISS!

Naruto jumped back from the blade, to which the man chuckled at the motion, before continuing, "I will teach how to hold the blade correctly, so you may be put with your fellow students later on. Now, catch," The man threw a similar instrument to the boy, although straighter and with a smaller handle. "This will be your shoto - a short bladed lightsaber - until I say so. Don't worry; it is just for practicing with. It won't kill you; just a mild burn is all. I felt it appropriate to jump into the Jedi way head on before anything. Now, activate it and-DON'T POINT IT TO YOUR EYES!" The man shouted, as Naruto had pointed it to his eyes to see through the hole for a moment.

Naruto looked at the handle, before pointing the thing away from him and pressing a button, causing a short green blade to erupt outwards from it. Naruto stared in awe at the green energy, tempted to touch it, but knew better than to.

After a moment of gazing at the long, green blade, he gazed upwards at the bearded man, "Uh, master…" He paused. He never received the man's name yet.

Said man, having suddenly realized this, chuckled slightly, "Dooku, Master Dooku."

"Master Dooku, if the Jedi try to bring safety to people, why do we use weapons?"

It was a good question, Dooku was willing to give the boy, at least. He was not completly, "We use them to protect others. Sometimes, Naruto, peaceful negotiations aren't always taken, and the Jedi must be…forceful, to ensure the greater good. In other words; negotiations with a lightsaber." He gave his own blade a few twirls around before sheathing it to his side in a spectacular fashion. Naruto was marveled by it, "Now, show me what you've got. And be careful with that thing. You might hurt yourself," Dooku said mockingly, pulling out a practice saber himself and pointing it at the boy.

Naruto knew he was being mocked by the man, as he narrowed his eyes, brought up his blade over his head and brought it down on Dooku's own.

The entire time, Dooku studied him.

_Poor form, easily angered and his footwork leaves much to be desired…I have my work cut out for me._ The master thought to himself, as he easily blocked the incredibly slow strikes from the boy. He had to admit, at least, that the boy had some strength for his age. It was surprising.

But, even though his strength was high for his age, maybe even for a seven or eight year old, he still was wild and untamed in the ways of the Force that flowed through him so violently. It was a bit surprising, especially when considering his young age.

Naruto Uzumaki…he was a special kid.

"OW!"

If not a little clumsy on his feet.

Sigh, he had much to learn.

* * *

And that's how it began.

The day before, I was a child; hated and looked down upon by everyone around me for reasons I had no knowledge about. And now, I was halfway across the galaxy, being flooded with information and knowledge that would unnerve and shock any adult.

To suddenly be told that everything that you knew was such a small and insignificant part of the vastness of what the galaxy was should have been intoxicating to me. But it wasn't. I was an empty cup. In those moments that I learned how things were, in some unconscious part of my mind, I think I understood what was going on. I think I knew of how vast my decision to accept Master Jinn's offer was, even if I didn't show it. Maybe I didn't know that no one else on my planet would ever experience what I would, but I understand that when I accepted the choice to be a Jedi that I would be accepting a huge decision.

I had so much to learn. This change; this huge, massive change in my life was just a stepping stone to a much a greater destiny that I could even begin to understand. I was willing to learn. I was willing to advance. To progress. I may have been born on that small planet on the outer regions of the galaxy, but my life began that day, when I was introduced to the man who I would admire till the day I died. Words cannot begin to express my gratitude and admiration. Looking back, everything I am and everything I did was because of him.

And if you're interested; if even the smallest bit of you is interested in what I have to tell you next, then I advise you to take a seat and relax. For as I said before, this is only the beginning…

* * *

**Alright, the new reboot is here of Naruto of the Force. Chapter one, hope you enjoyed it. Hope it was satisfactory for you all. Show me the love with comments down below.**

**Next time:**

"What happens now?"

"Now? Your training will become more difficult."

"I'm ready."

I **GUARENTEE** this chapter before Monday morning.


	2. Concepts of the Force

**Naruto of the Force (Soon to be called: The Long Road: Part 1)**

**By The True One-Winged Angel**

* * *

**AN: **Alright, glad I got so many good responses for my new reboot. I took the time and it paid off.

Since so many of you wanted an update now, I decided, literally, to work through the night on this one, as compensation for waiting so long.

So, without further ado:

**Chapter Two: Concepts of the Force**

* * *

Now, to be clear, I wasn't the best of students. I wasn't the student who grasped the fundamentals of every little thing the Jedi held dear like a sponge. I was not a student worth being proud of because I gained knowledge and ability without effort. Nor was I the most obedient student at the Temple. I gained my ability and knowledge because I went the extra step and did not hesitate to give the extra time to. Certainly, when it came to the physical aspects of teaching, I was, perhaps, the Initiate who grasped it the quickest. At least, the physical stuff I was supposed to know how to do at my age.

I won't deny that. I wanted acknowledgement, and I strived to make Master Dooku proud of me. To show him I had what it took to be a great Jedi. And maybe, silently, I had hoped to surpass Master Jinn as his top student. It was what I wanted.

I knew, even at that young age, that wanting what I wanted was, perhaps, an emotion I should have cleansed from myself. But I couldn't. My master's acknowledgement was something I strived for with a passion. And through my perseverance, I managed to gain some small amount of pride and respect from my master. He just showed it in his own, silent way.

A smile here. A nod there. Those rare moments of acknowledgement that I had been deprived of for so long meant a great deal to me. It made me happy.

Say what you will about me. I would like you to imagine your life where it seemed that almost no one believed in you. It is not one easily grasped or understood, I assure you of that.

Now, the reason why those small smiles and nods meant so much to me was because Dooku was, simply put, tough. He pushed me. Strived to make me the best Jedi I could be. I could feel it, even when I wasn't connected to the Force at the time.

He was not one to go by the standard ways a master taught his younglings either. A Jedi Master, generally, taught his or her students slowly, usually with the utmost basics and never more until later in life. Lessons were meant to enlighten and help Younglings grow to understand the Force, usually through games or fun activities. They are, after all, still children, and serious exercises were not as heavily enforced.

Dooku was more of the opposite. He had little time to train me to be at my peak ability, and thus, had me go through an exhausting training routine of exercises and practices, perhaps a bit above what was usually aloud for a child of my age to learn.

This reminds me of the first time I experienced control and understanding of the Force under the tutelage of Master Dooku…

* * *

"Sit." Dooku said, as Naruto immediately did as he was told. For a moment Dooku just stood there, looking out a nearby window out over the Coruscant city. Just over the horizon, the sun was just starting to set.

Naruto watched the old man. Over the last two months, he'd seen Dooku perform this act of looking out over the city, at least, a half a dozen times. He didn't understand why, but when Dooku did it, he took long, deep breaths, for a minute or so, before turning back and teaching Naruto something new.

The past two months had, notably, had its ups and downs for the boy. On one hand, he got to learn a little about what the Jedi did and what they could do. That was 'awesome,' as he put it.

However, it was not all mystical powers and understanding the lightsaber.

Dooku made it known during the first day that he would also learn what every Jedi his age would know, and at first, Naruto just smiled and nodded excitedly. Now, however, he understood what Dooku meant back then.

The alphabet, certain planet names, numbers up to one-hundred and further, and so on. Jedi were expected to be wise and know more than what the average child or individual knew at their current age. And although Naruto still had much to learn, Dooku would even admit that, having lived on his own, the boy had a certain level of maturity to him that made certain lessons easier to grasp for the boy. That was not to say the boy did not have the tendency to, now and then, act rambunctiously. But Dooku usually straightened him out whenever this occurred.

Unfortunately, Naruto was not one to naturally get into education. His mind was just too active for this. Further, the manners that he was expected to show his master were, similarly, lacking.

However, Naruto had Dooku, and Dooku had already had a headstrong apprentice before. He knew how to deal and to work with Naruto's already strong rebellious side when it came to learning. And thus, being the powerful man that he was, over the last two months, Dooku had effectively usurped a level of obedience from the boy.

But now, Dooku turned back to the boy, who sat quietly in the middle of the room, waiting for him. Dooku walked in front of him, and sat.

"I will now teach you how to harness the power of the living Force," Dooku's voice was calm and steady, as Naruto's face visibly excited.

"Really?!"

"Shh!" Dooku quieted the boy, as Naruto shook his head up and down frantically. Dooku frowned slightly, but nonetheless nodded back, "Now, watch and do as I do."

Naruto leaned forward slightly, as he watched his master bring his two hands close together, placing them before the boy, and kept still. "I shall do it slowly, so you may get a better understanding of how it's done," Naruto kept his gaze in between the two hands. "First, keep yourself calm and relaxed," Dooku took a deep breath before exhaling once more, "Now listen. Listen to the center of your being. Feel the grasp of who you are."

Naruto kept his gaze on nothing but the two hands that were before him. The words echoed in his mind, and he tried to imagine what it must have felt like. It wasn't easy, especially for a five year old boy.

"Expand the feeling of center. Allow it to envelope your entire person," Naruto began to feel a slight pull at his chest, as he watched the two hands together, "Then, let go. And allow that energy inside of you expand to the entire room." Naruto felt an almost pull coming from all around him, like the wind was blowing behind him, except he knew that the air was still in the Temple room. He was growing more and more anxious to see what would happen next.

And as Naruto noticed, the pull he felt was centered in between Dooku's two hands, "Can you feel it?" Dooku asked in slight humor. He knew Naruto could. His face said it all.

Naruto leaned forward, his face getting closer to the small vacuum that seemed to be sucking in all the air around him, the pull growing stronger as he did. Then, the pull stopped, and he looked back up to Dooku's strong eyes.

"Now you try," He commanded, as Naruto sat back and looked at his hands for a moment in uncertainty. Then he brought them together, hoping it looked in a similar manner as Dooku had it and focused at the center point between his two hands.

For a while, nothing happened. Naruto kept his arms up, concentrating on the center point as hard as he could, and pushed himself with whatever he could manage. His hands began to shake a little, along with his entire body.

He had little understanding of what it would feel like for the Force to flow through him. He went through his master's words. Once, twice, three times – nothing.

"You have to relax your muscles," Dooku instructed, remaining still in front of him as he watched the boy go on, "Calm yourself. You have never felt the Force before. If you push yourself to do it, it's power will not come to you." His eyebrows furrowed somewhat. "You must relax and gain a small bit of peace in you before you can use it whenever you wish."

Naruto attempted to breathe in and out slowly, but the feelings of failure were, sadly, getting to him. He had hoped to shine at this. He had hoped to seem impressive.

But now, the feelings of failure were showing, and his eyes began to water as he met Dooku's gaze. Naruto couldn't read his master's gaze as he muttered, "I have to make this work," For whom, he didn't even know, but Dooku could feel his determination, so he allowed him to continue in silence for a while.

* * *

Taking a short break, Dooku left the boy for a moment in the temple room as he left to grab some dinner for them both, hoping to return and see Naruto calm himself down so they could begin another lesson before they would be done for the day.

He returned, however, to find Naruto, once more, concentrating on the middle point between his hands.

Sighing slightly, he placed the small tray of food he had carried from the Temple refectory. A.K.A, its kitchen, eating areas, and couple of gardens.

Since the Temple mostly bred and created its own food through rooftop gardens, the main diet of a Jedi was fruits, vegetables and so on. Being born at the temple and eating mainly healthy choices of food for nourishment, no one really had a problem with it.

However, with Naruto, who had eaten few healthy choices of food with his time on his home planet, it was a hard transition from the fun and usually more tasteful options than the Temple offered.

This problem was soon remedied by Dooku, who simply gave him the ultimatum of, "Eat or starve. Your choice." At first, Naruto was rebellious, but quickly gave in and attempted to eat the Temple's food. Overtime, he grew used to it, and was not hesitant of consuming all on his tray that his master offered him. But, he had, from time to time, mumbled something about 'ramen' to the elderly Jedi Master.

At the moment, Naruto simply sat there, ignoring his food, and continued to concentrate in between his hands. Dooku ate in front of him for a while in silence, before taking a sip of his drink and pointing out, "Through eating, it is believed one can achieve more efficient control in the Force."

This had the desired affect Dooku wished for, as Naruto blinked, his concentration faltering away from his hands, and looked up quizzically to the Jedi Master, "Really?"

Dooku nodded, "As with all physical activities, one is able to do a great deal more should they have a full stomach. Same goes for the mental and metaphysical aspects of everyday life," he took another sip of his drink and looked back down to his Initiate, "Relax for a while. Enjoy your meal."

He needn't say more, as Naruto carefully and slowly ate his dinner. He was hungry, but from one of his first lessons with Dooku, he learned that eating as fast as he could would get him some 'interesting' results from the master.

He ate slower, much slower, from then on.

With their meals finished and their trays brushed to the side of the room, Dooku stood and spoke down at the boy, "Let us move on, for now. We shall continue this another time-"

"No, no! I almost got this Master Dooku! Just give me one more chance, please!" Naruto interrupted/pleaded, as Dooku looked down at Naruto's eyes that begged for one last chance.

Dooku hesitated for a moment. He felt there was still time left in the day for one last lesson that they could work on tomorrow. But, if Naruto still wanted to attempt it…

"Proceed then," he replied, "One last time. And then, we will move on," His emphasis on the 'will' told Naruto that this was not up for negotiation, as he nodded frantically and fell back into his relaxed position once more.

Dooku paced around him as he did so. Sensing the determination from the boy, he spoke in a low, powerful tone, "Close your eyes, Naruto."

Naruto looked up to him, "But master, I-"

"Close. Your. Eyes." Dooku commanded once more, as Naruto did as he was told, straightened his head back forward and closed his eyes. "Now, listen to my words." Dooku's voice seemed to echo through the room, as Naruto gave a small nod and listened.

"Relax." Naruto did so, releasing the strain he had put on his shoulders and body from his previous tries. His muscles thanked him.

"Take a deep breath," Naruto did so, "Exhale." He did. "Again. Breath in…and out. Continue doing this." He repeated actions again, over and over as instructed. Dooku's voice seemed to be coming from everywhere in the room, now. It was no longer like an echo. Now, Naruto almost thought his master had become the room itself. It was a weird way of putting it, but oddly accurate, as well.

It startled him, but he continued to close his eyes and breathe, nonetheless.

"Now listen." Naruto did. No footsteps, no sounds of his constant breathing and exhaling seemed to reach him, even his heartbeat seemed to die down as he listened for something he was unsure he was listening for. "Listen…" He heard as a whisper, and then, Naruto did.

A whisper. Not his master's or anyone else's voices he knew, but he heard it.

At first, it sounded like the wind. Wind that was slowly growing louder and louder. But then he realized that the wind wasn't wind at all. He heard voices. Voices upon voices upon voices. Hundreds of voices, he guessed. They were constant, ringing out from everywhere and drowning each other out.

They were constant and quickly becoming bothersome to the boy. They steadily grew louder and louder and louder, starting to ring in his eardrums until before long it felt like the voices were piercing every bit of Naruto's person. But then there was no pain, as well.

It was but was also not. He couldn't understand it, couldn't understand what was happening.

He wanted to scream, cry out, call out for Dooku, Qui-Gon, anyone to help him or explain to him what was happening.

He wanted it to stop, at least for a moment. And then, the strangest thing happened.

It did.

Naruto thought he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, but couldn't hear himself exhale outward nor feel the air leave his body.

He felt…calmer. Despite the maddening amount of noise and pain he felt not a moment again. He felt…fine. Just fine.

He thought he might have opened his eyes, but he wasn't sure that he did. It was still dark all around him.

He was still sitting. Or, at least, he thought he was.

Calmly, he listened once more. The sounds did not come back in the wave that they had before. He wanted…no, told them to be quiet. Now, there were only slightly loud whispers. They grew quieter, until it felt like they were simply whispering in his ear.

Naruto could feel something from those whispers. Like the sound they were making were bouncing everywhere around him. And from that sound that bounced, he almost felt like, wherever the sounds or the wind or whatever it was making those whispers were coming from, he was there.

His entire surroundings were known to him, in a way that could not be explained. Even the air around him seemed to be focused and a part of him now.

The whispers were manageable, the feeling of his surroundings unexplainable, and through the unbelievable sensation to his senses, he heard a voice once more.

"Now," his master's unquestionable voice spoke, "open your eyes."

And Naruto did so. And he was silent.

Dooku stood off to the side of him, watching his facial features. It seemed the boy needed a moment to realize that he had, in fact, opened his eyes.

Naruto looked on forward at his hands. Just staring at them before looking at the sleeves of his robes, his chest, his legs and then all around him. His body felt…tingly. Like he was having goosebumps.

He looked uncertainly around the room, as if unsure of where he was. His face remained calm, despite this. His mind felt…refreshed. That was probably the best word for it. Untangled may have been another one.

Dooku walked up to his side and knelt down. Naruto turned slowly to see his face, and the look in his eyes almost made it seem like he was a complete stranger to him. Not making any noise, Dooku pointed to Naruto's front, to which Naruto followed.

Before him, floating in the air like they were in water was the two food trays Dooku had brought with him for dinner. Naruto looked at them, a small look of surprise on his face.

He reached out to them, slowly, and noticed that they moved closer towards his hand as he did so, as if magnetized.

Naruto looked over to Dooku, a look Dooku recognized as 'are you doing this?'

He shook his head, and Naruto looked back to the trays. "Lower them," Dooku whisper, as Naruto just nodded. He pulled his arm back and looked at them.

Naruto looked at the outlines of the trays, and could have sworn he saw something. Something that was pulling them up. He wasn't sure what it was, though.

He did not concentrate exceptionally hard, but when he did, something happened that neither the boy, nor the master, had expected to happen.

The trays shook for a moment then bended together with a loud crunch, becoming medium sized balls of tin and metal in less than a second.

Naruto's eyes widened more. He willed them both to fix themselves. Instead, they flew to the side of the room in a loud 'clang', hitting the wall loudly before falling to the floor.

Dooku had followed their movements before turning to the boy. Despite Dooku's surprise, he felt the sudden rush of fear come over the boy. Quickly, he spoke, "Naruto…" he began, but the boy's fear kept rising. His fear, however, was for something unknown to the master, "Naruto, relax," the boy's fear shook for a moment, but continued to rise.

The room felt heavy, and Dooku knew it was the boy's unintentional doing. Dooku had to act quickly. He felt something he had never suspected to feel coming off from the boy.

Danger. A large feeling of danger and its potential was only increasing. Moving quickly, he moved in front of the boy and took hold of his shoulders, "Naruto," he said once more, as the boy looked up, and the fear only increased as a result.

Saying with as much authority as he could muster, Dooku spoke one word to the trembling boy.

"Stop."

Naruto seemed to freeze up. Everything around them seemed to freeze up. The thickness of fear that had been in the air simply died without a trace. Dooku continued to look into the boy's eyes, which just looked back. The uncertainty was back, but dissipating slowly.

Dooku slowly let go of the boy's shoulders. The situation had suddenly come from being a minor lesson in the Force, to a situation, to a rather unusual moment of quietness. Dooku couldn't read what was coming off the boy. He was, for the first time in a long time, uncertain of what to say.

Slowly standing, Dooku watched as the boy stood with him. "Are you alright?" Naruto made no sign of acknowledgement. He looked down at his feet and Dooku could feel something similar to embarrassment, disappointment and fear, though at a much lower level than before. In fact, these emotions seemed rather in check then the master expected them to be, considering how the boy usually was.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled below him, as Dooku raised his eyebrows.

"For?" Naruto pointed to the side of the room where the two former food trays now laid, not looking up from the spot on the ground.

"That." Dooku looked at the trays then back to the boy. He understood now. Embarrassment for crushing the trays instead of lowering them. The disappointment, from failing to do so and, perhaps, because he failed to do as Dooku had told him to. And fear because-

Dooku could guess that one. "You won't be kicked out of the Order for something like that." Naruto blinked, face still pointed to the ground, but the fear all but erasing from him

"Oh." Was all he said. Dooku smiled, unseen by the boy, as he put his hand on top of Naruto's head and ruffled his hair.

"How about," he began, "we keep this our little secret, hmm?" Naruto looked up, looking at Dooku's rare smile and nodded. Then, before Dooku could react, he hugged his master. However, because of his small stature, he only managed to hug a single leg, hiding his face from his master as he wiped his eyes solemnly on the elder man's robes.

Dooku looked at the boy, looking around the empty room uncertainly for a moment, before patting the boy somewhat awkwardly on the back. He remained silent, before feeling Naruto's head pop up slightly. Letting go of the Jedi Master, Naruto walked past him to the window and, much like Dooku had done earlier, looked out too seemingly nothing.

But Naruto understood now. The feelings that had come from his time with the darkness and whispers remained. And as he looked out at the city, he now understood why his master did what he did those times before.

He could…_feel_ the life of the planet. Looking out, he saw the life of the thousands he could see just from his view in the window.

From the speeders to the ships to the buildings and to the millions upon millions of people on the ground below; just from that window, he could see the wonder.

The child had no idea how to express this. His mouth was slightly agape, and tears were flowing slowly down his eyes. Not from sadness. The tears just…came. He didn't know why and wouldn't know why for quite some time. He could feel something life a cold, refreshing breeze passing through him constantly; relaxing him, but also spreading to everything around him. He felt like he was touching everything in the room at the same time, not limited to just his feet feeling the floor beneath him. Every movement around him…it felt like he knew when it would move. He felt…great.

Then, like his master, he placed his arms behind his back and took a deep breath, relaxing himself. Dooku, to the side, watched the boy as he did so and slowly walked beside him, mirroring the boy's action and looked out the window to the world outside.

For a few minutes, the two just stood there, watching as the last bits of the sun passed over the horizon, before Naruto asked, quietly, "What happens now?"

Dooku looked down to him, before staring back over the city, "Now? Your training will become more difficult." Dooku was unsure if Naruto understood what the word 'difficult' even meant, but the boy looked up to him nonetheless and, for the first time since awakening the Force within him, he smiled.

"I'm ready."

Dooku had no doubts about it.

* * *

Had I changed that day from discovering my potential as a Jedi? Even today, I am not quite sure. The spiritual side of the Force was still a mystery to me, along with the attainment of wisdom and the idea of balance. They remained as confusing and difficult to grasp as the Force. I'll admit, the fog had been dimmed from my mind, but I remained clouded to the whole of what it meant to be a Jedi. That would remain for many years.

But I can assure you of this, Master Dooku did not lie. Things only got more difficult in his training.

I believe Dooku understood that I was not one who gained from sitting down and listening. I was an active child, to that, no one could doubt. Through actually doing what I was taught, I gained a better understanding of what I was supposed to learn. Dooku even stated this himself, and probably feared how I would progress when I was put in with an Initiate clan of my own. Fortunately, he assured me that, when I became a Padawan, I would be given plenty of hands-on experience that I would not gain at the temple 'clan-sessions', as he called them.

That was another thing I liked about Dooku. One of the first things he taught me was how the order of things was with Jedi. Sure, it took me a while to understand and grasp what he was saying, but one thing he pointed out was that, when the time came, if an in-training Jedi was not given a master to train under, he or she would be thrown out of the Order. Or, essentially, be sent to work at the Jedi Service Corps, but Dooku assured me that that was essentially the same thing.

Now, scaring a child in such a way as that might have been cruel to some. But there was something I realized only when I was older. He never once said I wouldn't make it. Not once. He never said I would make it in a straightforward manner, to be sure, but never had he said I wouldn't either. He always said, when talking about my way of learning, that when the time came, I would learn from the experiences of being a Padawan to a master.

And that infallible belief that I would make it…well, I smile just thinking about it. Qui-Gon may have brought me to Coruscant and allowed me to be trained by the Order, but it was Dooku who pushed me to be the best.

He was my first, true master.

And if I didn't think much of him before, I would only later find out that not even Qui-Gon had gotten to control the Force like that until a month after Dooku taught him the technique. And Qui-Gon was in his teens by that time.

Dooku, as I believe now, had hoped to humble me, somewhat, with the knowledge that learning harness the power of the Force was extremely difficult, even with a teacher to teach you. But learning how to control the power of the Force was something even Jedi Knights had trouble with. And control was something I only gained later, myself.

He hadn't suspected me to get the hang of it. Heck, he may have suspected I wouldn't get the hang of it till I was a Padawan and I had a new master.

But I had proved him wrong. And this wouldn't be the last time either.

What I had done in a day, many could not done in weeks or even months. It was how I was.

And I think Dooku understood that. And it is why he pushed me forward constantly with the time I was with him.

Two months had passed since I began my Jedi training. Two months had passed since I began learning under Master Dooku. I had another ten more months to go before I would move on from Dooku, like I had been told.

In ten months, I would no longer be Dooku's apprentice.

* * *

**Alright, the second chapter of the new reboot is here of Naruto of the Force. Chapter two, hope you enjoyed it. Hope it was satisfactory for you all. Show me the love with reviews down below.**

**Next time:**

Slowly, day by day, Naruto moved into the routine of becoming one with his new clan.


	3. The Girl Whose Name Was…

**I have, officially, decided to change the title of this story to:**

**The Long Road: Part 1**

**By The True One-Winged Angel**

* * *

**AN: **This change of naming my story will take into effect soon. I want everyone to grow accustomed to it before I change it and everyone who looks at their email will not think, "What the heck is the Long Road?"

On a second note, I do apologize for taking so long to update. This has been one hell of a nightmare to write. The worst thing I have ever imagined writing. Hard, time consuming, a real masochist at creating.

I beg you: please, please like it.

**Chapter Three: The Girl Whose Name Was…**

* * *

For the next four months, until I reached my half-year anniversary of officially joining the Jedi order, things progressed as one might imagine.

Being a child, I wasn't lifting starships or practicing heavily on lightsaber training against my master. I was taught basic form (though I did ask for more than just learning how to dodge and guard against a remote droid); fundamentals and the workings of the Force (imagine the most boring class you've ever had and you have an understanding of what a hyperactive child was going through while trying not to fall asleep); and applying the Force into real life situations, such as meditation and expanding my senses outwards. This last bit was still tricky, but coming along, so long as I wasn't imagining myself cutting down a hundred remote droids like a Jedi Master during one of Dooku's lectures.

Using the Force to manipulate objects was a continuing challenge for me. The challenge being that I continued to crush random objects I focused on. It got to be more than a little annoying at times. It was only after crushing my own training lightsaber that I figured I should take the whole 'manipulation of objects' practices a little slower. Plus, crying in front of your master wasn't a happy moment of my memory, especially when he threatened to throw me out of the order should I not cease my 'tantrum' immediately.

It had the desired effect he was looking for.

I continued learning basic concepts a child should know beyond my age (I'll spare you the details, I didn't really care about it as much as I should, I admit) and actually had some fun alongside Master Dooku's new apprentice, Komari Vosa.

Perhaps I should neglect to mention this, but Komari was beautiful. The twelve year old was perhaps my first crush I ever had and you should have seen her through my eyes. Having only spent time with droids and Dooku around the temple, with the occasional chance at seeing other Jedi roaming the temple, usually of various alien species I was only just getting used to looking at everyday, Komari was heart-racing.

I blush just mentioning this.

I could relate to her. She was ambitious, quick-witted, and impulsive. Alongside Qui-Gon and Dooku, I looked up to her. She was inspiring and attractive with a desire to learn the ways of combat. I remember just watching her train alongside Dooku one evening; partially because Dooku instructed me to, and partially because I wished to see what a Padawan training under a master was like. I was not disappointed.

She teased me, talked with me and we had fun. She dreamed of joining the Jedi Council and becoming a distinguished master of the Force. She taught me a few things I'd practice in secret on, she told about how Dooku would teach her privately on matters of the Force or, on lighter subjects, she would discuss a planet she wanted to see or a friend she used to know back when she was younger.

I wasn't sure if Dooku knew what she and I did in our spare time together while he was away for various reasons, but he did not reject our friendship so that was something, I guess. And that's what made Komari Vosa so special to me. She wasn't just my first friend on Corsucant; she was my first friend ever. I'd never forget her.

But I must admit, when Dooku or Komari talked about the various planets of the universe, I couldn't help but reminisce about my own. Sometimes, I couldn't stop thinking about it. The Hokage Heads, my favorite spots to take naps, the old man, ramen – I had some good times there. Sure, the bad outweighed the good, but the bright, shining moments of my youth were there. No one could take those away from me.

But I was happy here. _Really_ happy. I might have been sad to see my old life come and go, but this is where I found a new one. And I wouldn't have given it away for _anything_.

Today, I will tell about a major point in my Jedi journey. Six months, I trained under Dooku's tutoring. Six months ago, I stepped foot on a new planet – something no other individual from my planet has ever done before, as far as I knew. Six months – Now came the most intense; most unorthodox training I ever experienced since arriving on Coruscant.

I was going to train with my peers.

* * *

The young Uzumaki was the center of attention as the elderly Master Dooku led the young man into the brightly lit room.

To say that this room was extraordinary from any other in the temple would be a lie. It was quite simple, really. There was nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. It was round, reasonably sized and held windows looking outward towards the city. Naruto studied and trained in this room regularly later in his daily routines alongside the elderly master and, on occasion, his apprentice.

However, different from his past times inside the room, the Uzumaki had never stepped into the room this early in the morning – nor when it was filled with a little over two dozen children and a young, blue Twi'lek woman standing at the front.

The children, notable in the fact they were close in age to the young Uzumaki boy himself, had been paying adamant attention (adamant, especially considering the age of the children) towards the adult at the front of the class – the previously mentioned Twi'lek woman. Whatever they were doing before Naruto and Master Dooku walked into the class was unknown to them both, but it was more then obvious to tell what held each child's attention at this moment.

Master Dooku, passive as ever in expression and ignoring the children entirely, walked to the Twi'lek master and spoke in quiet whisper between one another, leaving the Uzumaki boy at the doorway.

At one point, Naruto would have felt joyful at the prospect of the amount of attention he was receiving from children his own age. But Dooku had made certain, whenever they were in the presence of others, to keep quiet and not 'fidget like a bantha in the cold.'

The boy didn't know what a bantha was, even now, but he kept quiet and tried not to move too much at the gazes of the children. It was interesting; what once would have made him cheerful and excited now made him fidget and feel ill-placed.

Oh, how six months of hard work and a strong hand could change an individual.

Dooku moved back to Naruto's side, the silence in the room lingering even as he whispered to the boy, "Stay. I will pick you up later." He made his way out the door without another word.

"…Huh?" Was Naruto's intelligent reply back, as the sliding doors of the temple closed before he could even think of yelling out towards the retreating master.

Naruto paused at the doorway, unsure of what to do. He could feel the eyes on him. He could run. That was always a possibility. He still understood that from his time on his planet. It was a strong instinct that served him well.

"Alright," Naruto jumped. The instructor, at the front of the class, looked over her wards with an expressionless face, "back to the lesson at hand."

The students, who once stood around the room, not unlike soldiers listening to a drill instructor in the army, now huddled around the Jedi Master, squatting down before him, legs crossed, looking up expectantly. The children resembled actual children now than they did ten seconds ago.

The children, now that Naruto was not the center of attention, were not all human (or, at least, near-human) as he gazed at each of them. He saw a Mon Calamari, or 'fish head,' as he liked to call them, much to Dooku's chagrin and Komari's silent amusement; a Rodian, which he called 'scaly-bugs,' once more to his master's annoyance; a Togruta, which he always found kind of cool with their 'horns' and their 'red-tattoos' on their faces, though the one in the class lacked any horns on her head, which he found odd but didn't comment outwardly on it.

There were a couple others, such as one alien with about six or so eyes; one looking like a bi-pedal dog and another that had four arms. Naruto did not know their specie names, but a small part of him admitted that the dog kid looked really 'cool'.

Naruto had nothing against aliens, mind you, but his eyes trailed to the more familiar, human-like ones in the class; finding more comfort staring at humans his own age then aliens. After all, even at five years old, he knew staring at something with four arms wasn't nice.

"Naruto Uzumaki," the boy didn't jump this time, but his eyes did widen as he looked up to the Twi'lek woman. "Will you join us over here?" She gestured over to the group of children, whose eyes were now fixated on the boy/intruder/person-we-can-give-a-name-to-now, "Class will begin soon."

Naruto hesitated, not in fear, necessarily, but uncertainty. Dooku just threw him into a pack of neku, with absolutely no idea how to handle it. What was a boy supposed to do in a situation such as this?

Hesitantly, Naruto made his way to the back of the group, lying down, cross-legged, and gazing up to the instructor. A few of the children returned their gazes back to the teacher, finding the new addition to their little clan to be of no importance now.

Naruto visibly relaxed at this.

The Twi'lek relaxed herself as she stared down to her students, "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Master Vant," the children responded back, as Naruto sat silently, having not known her name till now. It didn't help in his growing feeling of being out of place from the rest of the class.

The Twi'lek – Master Vant – gave a small nod, "Good morning. Today, we will be returning to our lesson on Living Force," She began to calmly walk around the group of students, as she waved her hands to the windows, and the level of light in the room dimmed with the blinds falling over them, "Now, who can tell me what the Force is?"

The class raised their hands. This was something even Naruto raised his hand for. He'd had his head wrapped around the textbook definition of the Force since day one.

Master Vant pointed to the Mon Calamari, "Bant."

"Master," Naruto was mildly surprised by both that the alien could talk in a normal dialect (he expected bubble and small gasping sounds) and the fact that the Mon Calamari was clearly a girl. Hadn't seen that coming.

The Mon Calamari – Bant – stood up, "It is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds and binds the galaxy together as a whole."

No applause from the students, only a nod from the circling master, "Very good. You may be seated." Bant obeyed, "Now, that is the definition I am sure you are all familiar with," she cast a glance over to the blond, who caught her questioning look and nodded in the affirmative. She continued, "The Force is more than just an element between all living things, however. It is also a compass for the Jedi – leading us towards our chosen paths. We listen to its will and allow us to be swayed by its presence," a lot of large words. Naruto wondered if he was the only one who had to guess on what some of the words the master was saying meant, "As Jedi, we follow this energy field to help the galaxy and protect those who need it.

She paused for a moment, "Compassion, selflessness, self-knowledge and enlightenment, healing, mercy and benevolence," she looked into everyone's eyes, emphasizing each word with her tone of voice to highlight their importance, "all of these are aspects are to the light side of the Force. As Jedi, we hope to protect and follow the pull of the purity of light so as to be an example to the rest of the galaxy.

"Now, as we discussed yesterday, what are the three pillars that make up the Jedi Code?"

Naruto might have panicked slightly when she asked about a previous day he hadn't been to, but the Jedi Code was something he knew, if not perfectly, from Dooku. He knew the poem, but what each aspect meant was another thing entirely.

He wasn't perfect, but the 'three pillars' was something he recalled at the back of his head.

"The Force, knowledge, self-discipline." The class, Naruto included, recited together, with Master Vant nodding, pleased with their response.

"Excellent. Never forget younglings, we are all bound by the power of the Living Force. We learn of its miracles and its power within the halls. And with that knowledge, comes control, restraint and self-discipline." She paused, allowing her words, though barely understood by the children, to sink in. "Now, let us move on to something else, shall we?" She scratched one of her lekku, or head-tails, as some foreigners had the nonsense to call them, before she spoke again, "I believe we haven't gone over the Toola system yet, have we?"

The children shook their heads in uncertainty, letting out a chorus of 'no' and 'uh-uhs.' Naruto never heard of this system before, having only learned about the 'Inner-Rim' territories from Master Dooku, and to be honest, even that amount of information the elderly Jedi had tried to squeeze into Naruto's head had taken time to ensure it wouldn't be erased anytime soon. The 'Toola system' hadn't been one they discussed, that much he could recall, so Naruto assumed it might have been somewhere in the 'Outer Rim,' an area the two hadn't touched on yet.

Master Vant nodded, "Well then, listen carefully children," she walked to the center of the room, as a small pedestal rose from the center. Reaching into her robes, she placed a small orb into its center, allowing it glow momentarily.

The room lit with a map of thousands of systems. Naruto vaguely recalled his astonishment at seeing the map of the known universe for the first time; running through various planets to his amusement.

Even now, he couldn't help but smile at the 'coolness' of it all.

"Here," the master pointed to a small orb of light at the far corner of the room. "The Toola system. Homeworld of the _Whiphids_ – a sentient race once known for their primitiveness, now known for their expansive nature and willingness to discover. In fact, a newborn from the planet was just brought in a few years ago. He is a rare case of Force-sensitivity amongst the race…"

* * *

The lesson on Toola drawled on, going over various fundamentals, histories and elements of the system. During the lesson, Naruto wondered if it was something to do with being a Jedi, some aspect of the Force or something beyond his understanding, but the Uzumaki knew if Dooku asked him what he learned about the Toola system, he'd have been able to recite it all, no problem.

In short, Master Vant was exceptional.

The lesson continued to around the middle of the day, with the various students asking various questions and offering their opinions on matters, before breaking off from the lesson for their midday meal.

A.K.A., lunch.

Going into the temple refectories - for the first time since arriving at the temple - Naruto felt odd sitting between the students he spent the better part of the morning with. Looking back, Dooku, or even on occasion Komari, always passed him his meals for the past six months (with Komari always bringing him the better tasting food then Dooku ever did).

Sitting down, Naruto expected he would have to sit by himself, perhaps being excluded from the other children because of his 'newcomer' status. He was young; he felt himself tearing up a little at the thought of being excluded from people his own age again. Past experiences tend to mold your thoughts, especially at the fragile age of five.

He expected to be alone - It was only to his surprise when he found himself in the middle of the group of younglings.

The children were laughing, talking, socializing like children should – so unlike how they acted in the classroom. Was this what Jedi his age were like? Calm and disciplined one moment? Wild and rambunctious the next?

With these thoughts in mind, he nearly missed the small bit of food the flew past his line of vision. "Ow!" Naruto turned, seeing a reddish-brown haired boy a couple seats down from him have some sort of mix of potatoes and pasta spattered on his face. From what Naruto could tell, the boy was a couple years older than himself, growling at the pasta-mash potato mix stuck to his face.

Naruto vaguely remembered his name as...something-_Kenobi_, though Master Vant hadn't announced his first name during class.

Glancing the opposite way, another boy, around the same age as Kenobi, was laughing. Naruto couldn't recall his name; he'd been one of the quieter kids in the classroom, if he recalled.

Crystal blue eyes, white hair, laughing at another's expense – the laugh alone reminded Naruto of some of the meaner kids he'd tried to make friends with back on his own planet.

Another bit of food passed his sight, heading the opposite way, as the white-haired boy's face was now covered in a green broth of some sorts. Naruto looked back, seeing Kenobi's hand outstretched, slightly green from the food he'd, supposedly, launched at his assailant.

The white-haired boy growled, clearly unamused with his antics being returned to him, as he stood from his seat at the table to glare at Kenobi. It didn't last long, however, when another wad of food hit him in the chest. He looked down at it, then back at Kenobi. This time, a new boy was standing beside him. This one had a rectangular, yellow tattoo stretching across his face, along with unruly black hair.

Vos, if Naruto recalled right, was his name. Again, Vant neglected with his first name.

Speaking of Master Vant, before another piece of food could be tossed, the tall Twi'lek woman stopped at their table, effectively getting the children's attention.

There was silence before she looked at the three food-flingers in the eyes. It wasn't threatening, but it did remind Naruto of Dooku in a way.

That's an unnerving thought.

Master Vant stood there for little over five seconds, just staring at the boys. "Follow me," she didn't have to say much, as the boys moved away from the table and walked alongside the master, leaving the refectory.

It was quiet, for a moment, as the three children and the master walked away, before conversation resumed. It was now along the lines of, "Those guys are always getting into trouble," "Bruck really doesn't like Obi-Wan, does he?" "What do you think?"

Naruto paused in his listening, as he looked up and realized the students around him were staring at him silently. He hadn't realized the last question was aimed at him.

"Uhm, what?"

The questioner – Bant, the Mon Calamari from earlier – gave him a strange look, "What do you think of class?"

An honest question that left the scar-faced blonde unsure, "It's, uh, new? Nice?"

"Are you staying?" To Naruto's left, sitting beside him, was the Rodian from earlier – Dago, he thought his name was. He didn't even know Rodians could speak Galactic Basic.

He was receiving questionable looks from the others around the table. He was the center of attention again. "Uh, maybe?" He answered unsurely, but the half-answers, half-question responses were beginning to annoy him. This wasn't the normal, confident, smiling him. This was a…_sad_ him. Komari would smack him if she knew about this.

"Are you from another clan?"

"Clan?"

"Was that Master Dooku? Are you his apprentice?"

"Uh, kinda-"

"Where did you get those whiskers? Marker accident?"

"Marker? Wha-"

"Why are you _here_?"

The table went quiet. Naruto blinked, taken aback by the sudden silence, as he glanced over to the new 'interrogator'.

His newest questioner was a girl; that much Naruto had no trouble seeing. Said girl was sitting directly opposite of him from his side of table. As far as anyone could tell, she'd been quiet throughout the lunch period. Just mindlessly toying with her food and listening to the rambunctiousness of her peers.

Looking her over, Naruto noticed, coincidently, a few similarities to himself. A similar shade of blue eyes, blond hair (though hers was more straight and flowing downward then his own, naturally spiky blondness) and wore a similar white-shaded initiate's tunic as his own. Looking at her, you might just see a little blond girl and that wouldn't be to unnerving.

It wasn't her person, however, that caught Naruto's attention. It was her eyes – they weren't the questioning, innocent eyes you usually saw on a child. They were hard and stern, almost scowling at him. If Naruto didn't know better, he thought she might have been angry at him for some reason. But they hardly knew each other and Naruto, from poor experiences in his past, understood the difference between an angry and normally stern look.

Glancing around him, the rest of the children waited for the blond to answer the girl's question. It was, after all, the question on everyone's mind.

So, taking a deep breath, Naruto replied, "Master Dooku told me to be here."

The girl continued her staring, "Why?"

"Don't know. He said it was training."

"Training?"

"Yeah."

"What kind?"

She asked a lot of questions, "Don't know."

"Is this your first clan?"

"Uhm, I guess?" He looked unsurely around the table, "…Maybe?"

She frowned, "You don't know a lot." She turned her attention back to her lunch, suddenly finding a small carrot to be more interesting than the scarred boy in front of her.

Naruto didn't take well to being called, essentially, stupid, "You're the one asking questions."

The girl chewed on her midday meal, "What's your name again?"

More questions, "Naruto Uzumaki."

She paused for a moment, "Weird name."

Some of the kids around her laughed. Naruto's face reddened, "What's yours?"

The girl looked him in the eyes, swallowing her food slowly, "Not telling."

This caught the blond by surprise, "B-but you have to tell me!"

"No I don't."

"Yeah! You do!"

"Why?"

"Because!" She raised a questioning eyebrow, "Because I told you mine!"

"So?"

"_So you have to_!"

She looked back up to him. "_I_," she pointed her fork at the blond boy, "don't _have_ to do _anything_." And with that, the blond-haired girl went back to her food without another word; effectively ending the conversation and leaving the blond boy embarrassed, red-faced and angry.

* * *

Master Vant returned shortly after, followed by the three troublesome youths prior, all three looking very annoyed with one or the other but otherwise keeping their mouths shut.

The younglings followed the Jedi Master. The lesson after was, to Naruto's silent opposition, a meditation session in front of the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

The Room of a Thousand Fountains was a large greenhouse located at the base of the temple; containing huge amounts of plant life, waterfalls, works of art and walkways. It was considered one of the wonders of the temple. Beautiful, elegant, peaceful; just like the Force.

Naruto recalled trying to bath in one of the fountains the first time he came here, thinking it was giant pool. Dooku had words with him later.

The meditative session was, indeed, relaxing, but for the young blond, it wasn't his cup of blue milk. The boy wasn't known for being a 'sit-still-for-a-set-amount-of-time' kind of child. Especially when Master Vant said this would be their first of the day.

That meant more. Four more, to be precise; five sessions of meditative exercises in total. Naruto wasn't thrilled.

After the session of meditation (with Naruto subsequently falling asleep, much to the amusement of the children and disapproval of Master Vant), the Twi'lek master began what might have been considered an educational tour around the entirety of the temple. Vant discussed in detail various aspects and pieces of information on the floors and layout of the temple's structure, along with a few details into historic aspects of such-and-such, with Naruto ultimately learning and seeing much more than he had in that small hour then he had in the six months he'd lived there.

The architecture, the marble floors; the white pillars supporting the high ceilings; the hundreds of Jedi; the noises, the sights, the smells, the feelings – it was a lot to take in.

During their rounds through the temple, it should be noted that, at one point, the young Uzumaki happened to glance upon his master and Komari from a distance. Being the young child he was, his first instinct was to run after the familiar pair, ditching the clan without a second thought.

Master Vant called after him before he got even ten feet away from the group. To make a long, boring reprimanding short – Master Vant was _not_ amused.

Another meditative session followed. Naruto stayed awake, but let his eyes roam over the fountains and fauna. In its own unique way, this was his way of relaxing, even if he didn't realize it. Not necessarily meditation, but it cleared him of distracting thoughts nonetheless.

Thus, sensing he was relaxing naturally and without disturbing the other children, Master Vant let him continue without disturbance.

The next lesson was over similar aspects to that of history, with Master Vant going over for the next few hours lessons on law, political strategy, science, languages – stuff Naruto was only beginning to learn under Dooku's caretaking.

Perhaps it escaped the children of the class, but normal people did not learn this stuff at their ages. Or at least, not as rigorously. The children took to the lesson like they were bred for it, and, with each passing hour, Naruto felt less and less of an outcast from the rest, slowly accepting the knowledge passed from the teacher to the student.

Jedi children were advanced. No one could deny that.

Another meditation passed and Naruto found himself in a more interesting session of training he was hoping to get into sometime after their midday meal: lightsaber training. Master Vant escorted the class to a new classroom to which a young, long haired man stood at the front. The children, with Naruto standing by, walked to a corner where what appeared to be a small bookshelf stood. Walking over, Naruto discovered dozens of tiny, metal rod-shaped objects lined up for the greedy children hands to snatch up.

Hey, they were Jedi children – trained and disciplined, but who wasn't excited to get a handle on a glowing sword that made a cool sound when it turned on?

Naruto carefully picked one up, not really caring how it felt in his hands, before standing beside his fellow peers in front of their instructor. Their instructor looked them over, taking a moment to notice Naruto's new presence in the group, before reaching into his robes and raising his own rod-shaped saber in front of him.

With a snap, a long, jade colored beam arose from the handle, letting off a low humming as it was held firmly in front. "The oath," the master spoke, as the initiates lowered their heads to the instructor, holding their sheathed lightsabers in front of them. Naruto, never having done this before with Dooku, followed in their example obediently, "This is a tool, not a weapon. It is for protection, not vengeance. To guide, not lead. To defend, not harm. To bring balance, not chaos. The lightsaber is my life." The class recited each sentence after the long haired master, bowing their heads and chanting as one.

The man brought his saber to his side, "We'll start off where we left off yesterday. Bring out your swords."

The room lit with an array of various colors. Blues, greens, a couple yellows, even a red or two; the blades hummed lowly in the room. Naruto held his tightly, always in amazement of the blue saber in his hands.

Cool metal, seemingly harmless blade of energy and in the hands of an excitable child. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

The Jedi Master clicked a button on the side wall; a panel beside him opening up to reveal several remotes – tiny, fifteen centimeters in diameter droids with several opening ports around it – silently waiting for commands. "We shall begin with the normal morning routine: defensive instruction," the Jedi pressed an additional switch under the previous wall switch, opening up another panel on the wall to reveal several helmets lined up for use.

"Grab a helmet and begin."

* * *

The lesson went easy enough, by Naruto's standards. Remote work, a light lesson on form, a slight lecture on the duties of a Jedi when wielding a lightsaber and finally, more remote work. It wasn't as exciting as Naruto's lessons with Dooku, having hoped to challenge the Jedi Master – who went by the name of 'Master Drallig' – to show off to the class. Of course, when he discovered he wouldn't be able to duel the Jedi Master, he hoped to impress the class in other ways. Increasing the remotes frequencies in shots, show the teacher he knew his stuff, or even just make it seem as if he were an expert when it came to the remote. He hoped to stand out amongst his peers.

Notably, his remote did fire on him faster than the other students as a result. He was proud of his ability which Dooku occasionally praised him on. However, it did not occur to him until sometime after adjusting his remotes speed that with the class blindfolded he wouldn't be getting any praise from them anytime soon.

He sulked at the revelation.

* * *

Class with Master Drallig went by quickly without any interferences or distractions, with Master Vant picking them up for another meditative session soon after.

Meditation came less easy for Naruto this time; his mind still active from his active lightsaber training. His mind considered the twists, turns, movements and focuses he went through, with Master Vant scolding him on his lack of focus on the now.

'Live for the now, not the past' she said. If only it were that easy.

A short break for dinner was taken between the fourth and last meditative session. Unlike lunch, dinner had no food flinging, rambunctious children or any sort of that excitement to talk about. Mostly, it consisted of another form of entertainment between two blond children.

"What's your name?!"

"Not telling," She took a sip of her drink.

"Why not?"

She stared at him. "No reason." She took another sip.

"Then tell me!" The blonde boy's face was reddening.

She put her drink back on the table, "No." It was almost spooky how calm she was. Most children, even children of the Force, were excitable and wild things. She was not.

The blond groaned. "Bant," he turned to the Mon Calamari girl sitting beside the troublesome girl, "you know her name, right?"

The Mon Calamari turned to the blond beside her. The blond gave her a quick look, "Don't tell him."

The alien girl paused. "Sorry Naruto." Her tone was sincere, but Naruto could see her smiling at his anguish nonetheless.

That did not help to placate him, as the boy slammed his head onto the cafeteria table, not able to look at the passive-victorious girl's face. Around the table, kids were snickering, clearly entertained with his over-the-top attitude. If anything could be said about Naruto Uzumaki it was that he could put a smile on anyone's face.

"I know her name!"

Naruto raised his head. Down the table, the black haired boy from earlier – the one with the strangely curled hair strands – waved his hand at the agitated blond, getting his attention, "I know her name."

Naruto's anguished look dimmed, "Really? You do?" He was getting hopeful.

The blond girl was looking at the troublemaker from earlier. She didn't say anything.

The dreadlock boy smiled, "Yep." He pointed to the girl, "Her name…is…"

Naruto leaned forward as the older boy paused for effect, the rest of the students following his example. If nothing else, the dreadlock-haired boy knew how to get people's attention. It was something Naruto could relate to.

The black haired boy smiled brightly, "Quinlan Vos!" His overdramatic tone of voice was enough to make the rest of the table snicker.

Naruto, being the naïve youth he was, was thoroughly confused, "But that's-"

"No, no. That's not her name," the auburn haired boy stood beside the black haired boy, grinning just as brightly, "I remember; she said her name was 'Kenobi' or somethin'."

His friend looked at him with mock surprise, "Kenobi?! As in Obi-Wan?!"

Their smiles matched, "That's right! Obi-Wan Kenobi! That's her name! I'm sure of it!"

Naruto was thoroughly confused, even as the children's snickers rose to barely contained laughter at the duo's jokes, "Huh?"

"That's not it! She told me it was Garen Muln!"

"You're all wrong! She said it was Symelor Jaspin!"

"You're crazy! It's Krylee Kostin!"

"Remend Lellinnin!"

"Krail Oblaskinn!"

"Islan Oblakan van Obedubinesqueorem!"

A few of the races that couldn't speak basic made their grunts and sounds the rest of the students laughed at together. These antics were childish and immature, to be sure, but for the children, this is what was expected and they loved it.

It took him a moment, but Naruto understood he was being played at when he noticed the blond girl smiling ever so slightly as she played with her food.

She caught him staring at her and met his gaze with her usual indifference.

He tried to stare her down.

"Will you tell me now?"

"No."

* * *

The rest of dinner was uneventful, with Naruto begrudgingly giving up (for the moment) on discovering the female's name. It didn't sit well with him but the entire class was against him.

He'd figure out her name. Someone would slip or the teacher would call out her name – all he had to do was wait.

Waiting: not exactly Naruto's strongest suit, but not an impossible task for the blond either. He'd learned patience when it came to manipulation with the Force; he would use patience for this 'Nameless-Girl' as well…

Heading towards the Room of a Thousand Fountains, _again,_ for _another_ meditation session, who should be waiting but the young Padawan of his master.

Komari didn't even pass Naruto a look, merely bowing to the master, who returned the gesture, before walking off. Naruto watched her go, allowing her to get a few meters away from the group before he followed silently behind, unsure if he was supposed to or not, but felt that unless Master Vant told him otherwise, following Komari was the best option for now.

Naruto never did say goodbye to any of his classmates; even the ones he was starting to like. He just walked off and never looked back. Some might have considered that immoral, harsh or just plain mean.

But do not think harshly of the child. He is young; he makes mistakes, does things unintentionally – that doesn't make the boy a bad one. Just one unused to people his own age not spurning him for simply being.

Naruto fell into step with the Padawan, glancing up and noticing her trying to hide her smirk. He knew that smirk. That was her 'trying to look cool' smirk. She attempted to make a show out of walking away from the class with the young blond boy.

It worked. Perhaps it was some connection to the Force or Naruto's gut feelings, but he was sure his peers looked up and marveled at the Padawan girl as she walked by them.

Naruto smiled. Komari Vosa was awesome.

* * *

I won't bore you further with the details that occurred after Komari picked me up from class that day. In short, Master Dooku inquired to my progress with the class in detail, asked a few questions on the various materials we went over with Master Vant, before saying he was pleased and sent me to bed.

It was an odd day and I was exhausted. I crashed instantly.

For the next week, or more specifically, six days, Master Dooku and I went through our normal routine of training from sun up to sun down. For six days, nothing out of the ordinary happened and the memory of my day with the clan was fading.

Then, one week after having left the clan behind me, Dooku brought me back for another full day of training under Master Vant's tutorship. I was confused, but fell back into the routine of the class smoothly enough (though the meditation sessions are something I could have done without).

Full day with the clan, Komari picked me up, same time as always. A week passed, another day with the clan. Another week – repeat.

It wasn't until a month after having been sent into my weekly routine that things changed…a bit.

* * *

Naruto was confused. He had a reason to be. Here he was, sitting in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, meditating for the fifth time that day.

He never meditated with the class five times in one day before. Not once in the four other days he'd worked under the tutelage of Master Vant.

Speaking of which, the Twi'lek master neglected to comment on Naruto's remaining presence to either the blond boy himself or the other initiates. She just went on as if this were an everyday occurrence.

Perhaps she knew why Komari had neglected to pick up Naruto that day – but the rest of the clan certainly made it a point to send strange and confused glances Naruto's way. Even the blonde girl, who even after a month had continued to play her little game of 'keep-my-name-away-from-Naruto', had given him a peculiar glance at the start of class before returning her focus to meditation.

Naruto was staring around the room, expecting either Komari or her master to pop up from nowhere and surprise him out of his wits. He spent the entire session of meditating scanning the room for any grey bearded masters or young Padawan girls heading towards him.

Master Vant made a point to scold the boy repeatedly for his lack of focus afterwards. During which, he looked up to the Twi'lek master and asked, "Where's Komari?" The question was innocent enough, as the rest of his class stood silently away from the master and initiate.

From a distance, they appeared to be giving the Twi'lek master and initiate a respectable distance of space to talk in private. To Master Vant, however, she knew all too well each of her wards were pressing themselves to look innocent while straining to hear what the two of them were discussing.

"I am unsure where Padawan Vosa is at the moment," She replied honestly, "I was, however, instructed to prepare sleeping arrangements for you tonight, alongside your fellow students."

The confused look on Naruto's face could have been seen a mile away. "But I have a room for myself."

The master Jedi nodded, "Yes. But I have been instructed to keep you with the clan until further notice," she looked up to her patiently waiting clan. "Follow me."

Naruto's confused expression did not dim even as he followed the master through the temple. He felt…odd. Nervous, would be the most accurate word. Worried for his master and Komari and the situation with him sleeping and a whole bunch of things he didn't have control over.

This was getting very strange. And for the soon to be six year old, this was not a welcome change.

* * *

Master Vant escorted the group of children into a dormitory of sorts, which more-or-less looked like a military bunker than a dormitory. It was a long room stretching outwards, with well sized beds on each side, a trunk at the foot of each bed and at the very end of the hall two separate bathrooms for boys and girls.

The children moved into the room smoothly enough, finding individual beds for themselves and pulling out a change of clothes for the night. It was like clockwork as each of the initiates made it to their gender-selected bathrooms without as much as a peep or word to be said.

Naruto stood silently by the master. "I understand you are capable of changing into suitable garments for the night?" Naruto nodded. "Do you know how to brush your teeth and bathe yourself?" Naruto nodded. This was stuff he knew how to do way back on his own planet. Master Vant seemed pleased, "Good. Follow me."

She moved down the row of beds, the last remnants of fellow initiates making their ways toward their respective gender bathrooms, before stopping towards the last bed on the left of the room. "This will be yours. You will find everything you need in your footlocker, including your sleepwear, an appropriate change of clothes for tomorrow's class and other necessities." Naruto made eye contact with her, "Any questions?"

The boy looked up at the master Jedi. "Is Dooku okay?"

"Yes. _Master_ Dooku is fine. Are there any further questions?" The blond glanced around the room. He shook his head. "Very well. I would suggest asking Bant or one of your fellow peers if you have any further questions." She bowed to the child, "Pleasant dreams." Master Vant carefully walked out of the initiate's sleeping dormitories without further ado.

* * *

His fellow peers didn't take long to fall asleep. Today had been a tough lesson under Master Drallig and even Naruto was starting to feel a bit sore himself.

Sitting his back down on his bed, he let his eyes wander around the room. He was neighbors with the 'class bully,' Bruck Chun, who snored lightly in his cot beside him, which in Naruto's opinion was one of the least annoying things the older boy did to the class in general. Across from the foot of his bed slept Bant, who he asked a few questions about the room arrangement, to which she was happy to answer. He cot was different then my own, as it looked more like a giant tub with moisture spouting from it every now and then, quietly. It looked comfortable to her, at least.

Naruto moved around in the bed a little, trying to get comfortable with the new set up around him. His previous sleeping arrangements had taken him a little over a week to get used to. Dooku had to lock him into the room still because Naruto attempted to frequently explore the temple without him. The small, but still spacious room for the youth, was made for the sole purpose of living, sleeping and changing. Wasn't exactly meant for much else.

'Jedi require no materials aside from those you can live upon,' Dooku quoted. Evidently, that included robes and a lightsaber, along with any tools a Jedi might require for their assignments. Otherwise, Naruto never really his master carry anything aside from his necessities.

From his spot on the bed, Naruto sighed silently before throwing off his bed covers and creeping silently passed Bruck and a few other kids to the window closest to his bed.

Looking out onto Coruscant, it never stopped to make the Uzamaki child smile. Brightly lit lights, thousands of speeders and vehicles, black sky overhead – it was like the planet never slept. Naruto couldn't recall how many times he'd just stay up late at night looking over the city lights, hoping to one day be able to explore it.

Komari told her stories about it: the Galactic Museum, with artifacts of thousands of different cultures that dated back before even the Republic itself; the Senate building, which, as far as Naruto could understand, made very important decisions that affected thousands upon thousands of worlds; the Manarai Mountains, the Great Western Sea, the Uscru Entertainment District – the planet was a wonder to just look at, imagine exploring it!

Naruto sighed, reaching his hand out towards the city. One day, he told himself, one day I'm gonna see it all!

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Naruto felt his heart almost jump out of his chest; doing a quick turnaround, he found himself staring Rodian-eyed at the Nameless-Girl (or Nameless, for short, to which Naruto began to affectionately name the blond-haired girl, after still being unable to discover her name after all this time).

Naruto slowed down his breathing, glad he didn't scream in surprise; "Should _I_ be sleeping?" he whispered angrily, "What about _you_?"

The girl pointed to an empty bed directly across from the window, "I _was_ sleeping. _You_ woke me up."

He blinked. "Oh," Guess he wasn't quite the ninja he thought he was, "Sorry."

She shrugged, "Whatever."

The two remained quiet for a moment; Naruto looking at the girl in her sleeping robes, while the girl looked coolly out the window.

"Why are you up?" Nameless asked, making her way to the window sill and looking out for a better view.

Naruto shook his head, "I wasn't tired." He lied. Saying he was scared to fall asleep in a new place would have been to embarrassing. Especially to Nameless.

The girl didn't reply for a moment, "Is your master okay?" She asked, looking over to the blond boy with those eyes that didn't seem to belong with a child her age. So keen_, _so focused – even Komari didn't have eyes like her.

Naruto moved his eyes away from her. She had that effect on him. "I don't know," he admitted, "Master Vant says they are." He admitted, as he moved beside the Nameless-Girl to look out the window.

Nameless never took her eyes off him, "I'm sure they're okay. They're Jedi – they can do anything." Naruto nodded. Every kid believed that. When you became a Jedi, nothing was impossible. You could do anything as a true master of the Force.

There wasn't a single doubt of that in any of the children's minds.

The two children stared out at the city, watching life pass them by even in the dead of night. It was relaxing, and as far as either of them could remember, it was one of their only conversations that didn't resolve around arguing with one another. It was progress, sort of.

Nameless turned back around as she made her way back under the covers of her bed. She didn't say a word, didn't give Naruto a last look of recognition, but what she was saying was clear. It was time for bed.

Naruto watched her head hit the pillow before feeling a similar sense of weariness pass over him. Not a minute later, sleep overtook him, as he felt a new, formerly remote sense of comfort in the dormitory of his peers.

Everything was fine now. Just fine.

* * *

The clan's schedule was rearranged the next day for classwork. It consisted of a normal routine of learning about cultures, the Jedi Code and other lessons in mathematics, sciences, hyperspace theories and so on, up until the midday meal. After that, things started to break off from Naruto's usual pattern of class work. Now, they were doing exercises – light runs and walks around the temple, series of pushups and sit ups and even double lessons in the art of a lightsaber with a new Jedi Master – the blue Twi'lek, Anoon Bondera.

Bondera even went into mild lessons of the unarmed combat sort, to which Naruto volunteered himself excitedly whenever Master Bondera asked for an assistant. By the end of the day, Naruto was the sweatiest and most bruised child in his clan. He didn't seem to mind one bit.

There were times during the training that Master Vant separated the younger students from the older and took them to separate areas of the temple for different aspects of training. Naruto was, admittedly, curious as to what the older kids could learn that he couldn't, but since he had the opportunity to train physically under the Twi'lek Jedi, he wasn't about to waste as good as an opportunity as this for curiosity's sake.

Besides, he could just ask Komari later what the older kids did that the younger ones couldn't.

Time passed quickly, with the fourth meditation and dinner meal passing, they came to their final meditation session of the day. Komari waited silently, like she had the first four times before, just outside the usual entrance to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Like before, she bowed to Master Vant, who returned the gesture politely, before the young Padawan passed the group of children in her usual, nonchalant manner.

Naruto looked back between his classmates and his Padawan friend, before breaking off from the group to follow alongside her, "Where were you?" He asked, matching her pace as they trekked quickly through the temple.

The girl did not have her usual smirk, "We went on a mission. To the underground."

"Underground?"

She nodded. "Coruscant is made of many floors beneath the temple. Master and I went nine-hundred levels below. There was a…a small gang dispute." She didn't look happy talking about it, "It wasn't what I expected."

Naruto wanted to ask more, but the Padawan seemed tired – almost aggressive-looking at that moment. She always had a look of strong over-confidence, but now she seemed weary like she'd woken up from a nightmare. He wondered what occurred on her first mission. He wondered, but did not inquire.

Even to a child, there were some things you knew you just didn't speak of. You knew better then to.

* * *

I remember Dooku looking much better then Komari did after leaving the clan. In fact, he looked rested and just as poised as usual. Komari didn't smile for three days after I returned under the tutorship of Dooku. When she did, it was a welcome surprise and relief. Although she didn't talk about what occurred on her first mission, I expect it was not as most first missions went. At least I hoped.

Dooku asked me about my two days amongst the clan. He inquired to my lessons, chuckled about my rough first night amongst the clan and praised me on my good behavior. He then told me to wash up for the night and prepare for sleep.

A routine occurred for the next month. I thought it would have been a onetime occurrence, but the next week after Dooku and Komari returned, I stayed with the clan for another two days. Another week passed, and another – my routine of learning with my peers for two days remained the same for the entire month.

Then, after two months had passed since my 'coronation' under Master Vant's clan, I found the third month brought another day of tutoring along with it. Three days, I learned with my fellow clan. Three days without Dooku or Komari.

In that third month, I began to open up a little more, showing a bit more courage and acting more like my true, somewhat wild, self, while also getting to know my fellow clan students on a more personal level.

The first clan member I held in deep regard was Bant Eerin, the Mon Calamari of planet Dac, who was my age and a soft spoken girl. Whenever I had questions that needed answering, more often than not, I would ask her before anyone else. She was a close friend to the rest of the initiates; even motherly, one could say. She relished in helping others. A quality I could appreciate, even at my young age.

Bant was a close friend to another young initiate that I would be privileged to know over my time as an initiate and after. His name was Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am sure you have heard his name before – who hasn't? – but in his youth, he was a sharp contrast to how he is today.

The boy was a couple years my elder. In his adolescence, he was captivated with machines and wished to be pilot; crafting models of battleships and cruisers he hid under his bed at night. I looked up to him, a little. We all did. He was one of the one of the oldest in our little group. Brightest, too. If you accidently broke your remote during class, Obi-Wan would take a moment to help you out. He was one of the better students with a lightsaber. I even asked him a question about the Makashi style of lightsaber forms once. Answered it accurately and like an older brother I never had.

Now, that was not to say he was perfect. In fact, he was an arrogant prick at times and often impatient. We had our small moments where we'd fought one another – I'd smack him with my saber, he'd smack me – but in the end, we'd smile and be thick as thieves.

Speaking of fellow thieves, I couldn't neglect one of the only other troublemakers in the class that I felt a small, prankster's kinship towards. Quinlan Vos – another famous name and friend I'd known for many years. Between Quinlan or myself, I wasn't sure sometimes who gave Bruck Chun the most trouble. Of course, Bruck _earned_ his hardships from us – either he'd mess with me, with Obi-Wan, or he'd gang up on some poor student with his fellow friend, Aalto – and we'd give him our own swift 'Justice by the Force', as the three of us called it. Quinlan Vos was as wild as I was, but a dear friend I would know all my life.

Bant, Obi-Wan, Quinlan – what better students and friends could I have asked for? And even though I wasn't a friend, by any means, to the 'noble-born' Bruck Chun, I still counted him as my brother in the order, and that would never change.

But there was another in the class I couldn't deny getting somewhat closer to. The 'Nameless-Girl.' I know her name now, of course. How could I not? But for the sake of storytelling, I will refrain from telling her name just yet. You shall know it by the end of my story today – do not worry. It merely adds to the suspense.

Nameless, as I called her, was my age. Even as a child I knew she was pretty, even with her _attitude_. Blond, straight hair, blue eyes, light skin – Jedi might have been forbidden from attachment, but that wasn't to say she wasn't the prettiest girl in the whole clan.

She was strong in the Force. Gifted, even. Great with a lightsaber that made some of the older boys look like beginners, by comparison, and aside from Quinlan, Obi-Wan and myself, I think she was the only one willing to stand up to Bruck and his troublesome ways. She was competitive, witty, unladylike and even headstrong at times. But to be honest, that only seemed to add to her charm. It was a quality of hers that was both troublesome and endearing. I couldn't imagine her any other way.

Aside from her skills and her hard attitude, there were qualities about her that made her…hard to be around. She wasn't the most trusting person you'd ever meet. In fact, until I joined the clan, Nameless rarely spoke to anyone, as Bant told me. Not to her classmates or any of the Master Jedi. She was the loner of the group, something I suppose appealed to her until recently.

In the span of three months, I never did figure out her name. The children, I was sure, were enjoying my hard-pressed attempts to discover her name. I even suspected the teachers were in on her little game, though I never had proof. Nameless enjoyed our little game for months without any signs of relenting control on her name.

By the fourth month of my training under the clan, I began to see a pattern to Dooku dropping me off with my peers. Every month, another day would be added in the week to my training under the tutorship of Vant.

With the fourth month of training, I was spending a majority of my week with the Twi'lek Jedi. Four days, to be exact. It was around that time I began to forget when Komari would pick me up. It was the last week of the fourth month when I passed Komari up entirely on my way to my fifth meditation session. I'd forgotten that was the day Komari would come to pick me up.

She had to call to me to get my attention. I remember, even now, that Komari Vosa, the girl who never would have looked distraught in her life, in front of a boy, no less, looked saddened I did not notice her waiting for me.

I felt like bantha dung for the rest of the evening.

The fifth month was the same routine. Another day with Vant, one less with Dooku. The sixth month was the same and final pattern. Six days with Vant. One with Dooku.

I remember the last time Dooku dropped me off to Master Vant's class. He brought Komari along with him that day. I was six at the time.

It was the last day I was Dooku's, sort-of, apprentice.

* * *

Naruto, Dooku and Komari stood silently outside of the doorway to my clan. Early morning, like always, but Komari never came with Dooku to lead the boy to his class. This was new, and Naruto guessed what it meant.

"Naruto," Dooku spoke down to the boy in his usual, formal and elegant tone, "I will be leaving you under the care of Master Vant from now on." Naruto nodded. He'd been expecting this. He didn't even cry. He'd done plenty of that the previous night.

He was a child, but he was ready for this.

"You will take your oaths, when the time comes. You will be given a master, when the time comes. And when you have proven yourself amongst your master, the order and to the Republic, then you will be allowed to join the ranks of the Jedi Knights." He took a moment to think over his words before scratching his beard lightly, "You have been…_quite_ the student, Naruto Uzumaki. I remember, the first day you came to the temple. I_ thought_ you were going to be the hardest student I ever had to train. I thought my former apprentice made a mistake putting you under my wing.

"But you proved me wrong. Every challenge I gave you, you worked to surpass - to prove me wrong. You succeeded. A teacher's pride cannot be measured in words, but know that I am proud of you, Naruto. Any master can only hope that he is one day humbled by the feats of his student. I hope to see the same done in Komari as you have undoubtedly done for me," he smiled to his Padawan, who returned the gesture proudly.

"I expect great things from you, Naruto Uzumaki. You have made me _very proud_," he bowed to the boy. Looking back, Naruto did not recall, even once, Dooku making this gesture to him. It was a sign of respect to the boy. Something he'd hoped to earn from his Master Dooku since day one.

Now he earned it, and almost felt like he hadn't earned it. He felt himself lacking, even now, in comparison to the two Jedi before him.

Quickly, he returned the gesture back to him, almost falling over out of sheer surprise and a looming sadness as he felt the finality of this gesture. He was going to miss them both.

Naruto looked over to his first friend, who smirked at him in return, "I expect a duel from you once you become a Jedi Knight, you hear me?"

She always was blunt and full of herself, "I'll miss you." Though un-Jedi like, it was, Naruto rushed over and hugged the taller girl as hard as he could. She returned it, laughing slightly as she patted his back comfortingly.

Dooku smiled silently beside them. "Come along, Padawan," He motioned Naruto to the door, "We must be getting back to our training. And Naruto must be getting back to his friends and classmates."

Naruto broke away from his friend, sniffled slightly as he worked to keep the tears from falling from his eyes. This was harder then he imagined it would be.

The blond stepped towards the door, giving his master and friend one last firm bow of the utmost respect, before pressing the button into the classroom.

He never walked into the room alone, before. Master Dooku had always led him inside. Now, he walked in, quietly, gave a low and respectful bow to Master Vant, who returned it with a, "Good morning, Youngling Naruto," before taking his place beside his fellow peers.

He could sense that the rest of the class noticed Master Dooku's absence in his arrival to class this morning, even as Master Vant began to discuss the morning routine for the day. Naruto hardly paid much attention, his mind clouded by a thickening fog of dread and realization that his master – _former master_ – would not be picking him up again.

He felt the tears starting to come when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He turned around slightly, careful not to attract the attention of his instructor while not allow the waterworks to fall from his eyes at the same time, as he noticed Nameless looking at him carefully.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, careful not to attract Master Vant's strict attention, as the Uzumaki boy, not trusting his voice, gave a small nod. She gave a small nod in return, pausing as she looked ready to ask another question, "Are you one of us now?"

Naruto's eyes gave the blond girl a questionable look in return. He'd always assumed he was one of them, to which he assumed she meant 'one of the clan', before, but understood her question enough to give a nod back.

She was wondering if he was staying with them. Permanently. And as far as he knew, he was.

Neither Dooku, nor Komari, was ever going to pick him up again. He could feel the water in his eyes starting to grow heavier now, even as he rubbed them to keep them dry.

Nameless returned the nod, hesitating for a moment before moving up to the boy slowly as to not attract attention to herself.

Moving her head closer to his ear, he could see her smile, calmingly, but ever so slightly, as she whispered nine words the Uzumaki boy would never, ever forget.

"Then you should know, my name is Siri Tachi."

Naruto blinked. Then blinked again. Then blinked a few more times before turning sharply towards where the voice's origin came from. "Siri Tachi?" He mouthed back, unsure if he heard her right and hoping this wasn't just a dream.

Six months he'd hoped to discover her name. Six months. Now she gave it to him, just like that.

It almost seemed like a cruel joke.

The girl allowed herself a brief smile at his disbelieving look, nodding affirmatively, "Welcome to our clan."

She shuffled back to her spot behind him. She – the girl formerly known as Nameless, now Siri Tachi – left the Uzumaki boy speechless, surprised and smiling like an idiot throughout the rest of the lesson, his sense of dread at being left behind by Dooku now being filled with a new feeling of enlightenment and excitement at having discovered the 'Nameless' girl's name.

_Siri Tachi, Siri Tachi, Siri Tachi_…the name kept ringing in his head throughout the morning lesson.

Her name was Siri Tachi. He would never forget her name.

* * *

And I never did.

* * *

**Oh, what a painful chapter, this was. I am not sure about it. I have read it over a few times. I pray to whatever god there is that it comes out to the approval of my fans and readers.**

**Please show your approval in the review box below. I really need the approval of this chapter. This was my hardest work yet and I would appreciate any helpful criticism or appraisement you would share with me.**

**Oh, and be sure to like my Facebook page on my Fanfiction page. I do updates and whatnots from it to keep people posted. With school out of the way, I have more freetime to write.**

**Again, hope my fans enjoyed the new chapter and I'll see you all soon!**

**Next Time:**

Let us look into some of the young Uzumaki's moments and adventures as an initiate before we introduce a darker part of the temple's history, shall we?


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